SOME OF OUR FAVORITE LOCAL STORIES.
FEEDING HOPE: AUSTIN’S STORY
A moment later, a volunteer was filling Austin’s bag with fresh produce—pears, onions, celery, watermelon and more. It was the end of the month—when Austin and his family typically need a little more food than they can afford.
Like many, Austin uses a food pantry, the Medical Lake Food Bank, to help fill gaps in his family’s grocery budget. He and his wife have three mouths to feed besides theirs, and their incomes don’t always cut it. Austin’s wife is a pre-school teacher, and Austin, a former Apple employee, works at a production company seasonally. His family uses the food pantry more frequently in the colder months, when Austin isn’t working and stays home to take care of his kids.
The food pantry helps Austin and his wife stretch their budget—and ensures they have healthy food on hand. “We love the fresh veggies. Several times we’ve gotten meat that we’ve saved in the freezer, and we hardly ever have to buy bread.”
“We’ll take everything. We love fruits and vegetables.”
With hopes to one day be a high school teacher, Austin plans to get a Master’s degree in teaching in the near future. But for now, Austin and his family can turn to the food pantry for a little extra food and the peace of mind that there’s somewhere to go to get them through a tough time.
From The Kitchen: Cooking with dried beans, lentils and peas – March 8
Have you ever received dried goods, such as beans, lentils or split peas, and felt stumped on how to use them? Cooking with dried goods can seem daunting, especially if you’re used to using canned varieties. However, dried beans, lentils and split peas are affordable and often found in food pantries, so cooking with them is a great skill to gain confidence in. Continue reading for some tips and tricks on how to prepare dried ingredients and gain some cooking inspiration from Second Harvest recipes that utilize them.
National Agriculture Month: Celebrating Ag Partners and Friends – March 1
We take immense pleasure throughout the year in celebrating our agriculture partners and friends. But during National Agriculture Month, we take extra measures to recognize their continued support, contributions and commitment to Second Harvest’s mission of serving people facing hunger.
Our ag partners range from small, local farms to large industry farms, livestock operations, and the processing and manufacturing plants that support them.
Why I support Second Harvest: A donor’s story – February 23
Nothing is more important than having food on the table. To state the obvious, food—like shelter—is something without which we cannot survive. Second Harvest thus quite literally provides a lifeline for those whom my wife and I cannot feed directly. And it has done so for the nearly 40 years that we have supported Second Harvest. During this period we have seen not even a hint that their mission is diminishing in importance. On the contrary, the organization seems to be throwing out more and more lifelines to those in our midst who are in danger of sinking.
Feeding Eastern Washington and North Idaho
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