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Feeding Hope: Luis’ Story
Before the COVID-19 crisis, Luis and his wife had never been to a food bank or Mobile Market before. They never needed the help. But as the pandemic forced businesses to close, both Luis and his wife found themselves furloughed, wondering how they were going to afford food for themselves for the first time.
That’s when Luis heard about a Mobile Market distribution nearby. He returned home from the event with a variety of fresh fruits and vegetables and pantry staples. “I told my wife, ‘This is a miracle – something like this helping us during this crisis.’” Then he said, “We need to repay this food.”
“When you live in a community, you need to be fully integrated into that community. If there is a need in the community you can fill, why not do it?”
Luis began to use the time he’d normally spend at work volunteering at Second Harvest. “We serve in the community where we live,” he said. “When you live in a community, you need to be fully integrated into that community. If there is a need in the community you can fill, why not do it?”
While Luis is now back to work part-time, his wife was laid off from her previous job. They still receive food from Mobile Market distributions occasionally to help them stretch their tight budget, and Luis still volunteers at Second Harvest a few times a week to help his community get through this crisis.
“I have a big heart for people who have been laid off after working somewhere for several years. The work Second Harvest has been doing is fantastic,” said Luis. “This is something that the community will continue to need moving forward. It’s going to take a long time to get back to normal.”
A celebration of our volunteers – April 12
Volunteering doesn’t have to be a one-time thing and the individuals who volunteer at Second Harvest in Spokane and Pasco have proven that in many ways. Even though April is nationally recognized as Volunteer Month, our gratitude for your service is year-round. In the last couple of years, the Volunteer Center in Spokane has gone through various changes and adjustments to keep up with the increase in food demand, prompted first by COVID in 2020 and then by inflation. Even with the changes, our volunteer support has stayed and become even stronger. Our community is filled with mission-driven individuals to help us feed, nourish and build the community around us.
In The Kitchen: Food Waste Prevention Week – April 5
Earth Month is the perfect opportunity to reflect on our habits and how they impact the planet. We might think about how often we drive and take advantage of the nicer weather to bike to work, or maybe even grab some friends and family and find a river cleanup event for Earth Day. But did you know that you can make an impact without even leaving your house? In fact, reflecting on our cooking and grocery shopping habits has the potential to have a greater and long-lasting impact on our environment.
Gonzaga’s Dusty Stromer and Zilch: Teaming up to end hunger – March 29
Dusty Stromer understood from a young age that while his family had enough to eat, others in his circle were not so fortunate. Dusty had a courtside seat to food insecurity — he says that by age 10, he knew some of his friends came from households where food was not reliably available.
A freshman shooting guard on the men’s basketball team at Gonzaga University, Dusty recently got a close look at the fight against hunger by touring Second Harvest’s warehouse and helping to distribute free food through its Zilch program.
Feeding Eastern Washington and North Idaho
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