SOME OF OUR FAVORITE LOCAL STORIES.
VOLUNTEER SPOTLIGHT – AUGUST 20
Authors: Claire Hurd and Natiel Carpenter
Each year, more than 8,000 volunteers step through our front doors and become a part of the solution to hunger in our community. They bring their passion, energy and skills to the table so they can put food onto the tables of their neighbors in need.
To show our volunteers some appreciation, we have two special shoutouts we would like to make this week.
Everyone, meet Debbi of the FOCUS Tri-Cities Group and Andy of the Mixed Nuts Volunteer Group in Spokane.
Debbi Schmoe
Q: What’s your name?
A: “Debbi Schmoe.”
Q: What volunteer group do you work with?
A: “The FOCUS (Focusing on Community, Unity & Success) Tri-Cities Group.”
Q: How long have they been volunteering with Second Harvest?
A: “We have only been volunteering at Second Harvest for a couple of months. We spent time looking for an opportunity to volunteer on a regular basis and Second Harvest was the best option for us.”
Q: How many hours have they volunteered?
A: “Currently the group volunteers several hours a month. Personally, I also drive for Meals on Wheels. I ran a food bank when I lived in Iowa out of our church. I have also participated in disaster relief with the Southern Baptist disaster relief organization and have coordinated in the kitchen. When we responded to Hurricane Sandy, our kitchen provided over 100,000 meals in 7 days.”
Q: What made you want to start volunteering?
A: “As a group, we wanted to find a way to live out the John L. Scott slogan ‘Living Life as a Contribution’ and volunteering in our community was a great way to do just that.”
Q: What is your favorite memory of volunteering with Second Harvest?
A: “I love packing boxes of food, knowing they will go to families that really need it.”
Q: Would you survive in a zombie apocalypse?
A: “Probably not, I would stop to help and end up being swallowed up by the others.”
Q: Is a hot dog a sandwich?
A: “Of course, it is meat between 2 pieces of bread.”
Andy
Q: What is your name?
A: “Andy.”
Q: What volunteer group do you work with?
A: “The Mixed Nuts in Spokane.”
Q: How long have you been volunteering with Second Harvest?
A: “About 9 years. Since 2013. “
Q: How many hours have you volunteered?
A: “Ten thousand!” (He’s really not too far from the correct answer. He has donated thousands of hours of his time).
Q: Andy, is a hot dog a sandwich?
A: “A hot dog is a MEAL. I like them with pickles, relish, tomato, cucumbers and peppers.”
Both of these highlights are just a small glimpse into the passion our donors bring to the cause. It takes strong community relations to fight local hunger and we couldn’t do it without volunteers like Debbi and Andy. Thank you both for your dedication and commitment to ending local hunger.
If you are interested in volunteering, learn more here: https://2-harvest.org/volunteer/
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.
Grocery Rescue: Changing lives daily – March 22
Your visit to a local grocery store may seem like a routine, unimportant chore. That perfect strawberry, tomato or apple you select is made possible because different departments of your neighborhood store carefully maintain a standard for each product. But what happens when the banana is too green, or the strawberries are too ripe? That product is stranded and without rescue would find its way to the landfill. Thanks to stores partnering with Second Harvest’s Grocery Rescue program, that nutritious food is shared with partner agencies throughout the 26 counties in Eastern Washington and North Idaho served by Second Harvest.
Winter 2024 Newsletter – March 15
Check out the latest news from Second Harvest. Serving people facing hunger across the Inland Northwest.
Feeding Eastern Washington and North Idaho
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