Mobile food bank pays dividends
LOREN BENOIT/Press Kootenai County Fire and Rescue Chief Warren Merritt helps load food into Vivian Sheperd’s vehicle Wednesday afternoon at Post Falls City Hall. The Post Falls Police Department, Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, Second Harvest and many more organizations helped put the event together to give free food to area residents in need.
Hundreds of local residents descended upon the Post Falls City Hall parking lot Wednesday afternoon to visit the mobile food bank.
The mobile food bank is operated by Second Harvest, a Spokane nonprofit committed to combating hunger and providing healthy food to eastern Washington and North Idaho.
Todd Kennedy, the mobile marketing coordinator for Second Harvest, said the community had donated 6,500 pounds of food to be given out.
“We’re just happy to be involved,” Kennedy said. “Our mission is to get healthy food to people every day.”
Karen Hunt made the drive from Athol to pick up supplies for herself and her eight children, four of whom are foster children. She said this type of event allows her to continue helping kids.
“Events like this are why I feel OK being a single mom and a foster parent,” Hunt said, “because I know the community will come behind me in support.”
The Post Falls Food Bank also helped organize the event. Executive Director Leslie Orth said people often incorrectly assume those who use the food bank are unemployed or lazy.
“A lot of these people have full-time jobs but aren’t making enough to cover all their basic needs,” Orth said. “And they don’t qualify for food stamps because they make ‘too much’ money.”
In addition to this event, Orth encouraged Post Falls residents to visit the market at the food bank, open Monday through Friday, to stock up on food and attend nutrition education courses.
She especially emphasized the difficulty lower-income individuals face in finding fresh and inexpensive produce.
“I always say, if you see someone with $50 in their pocket [for groceries], they’re not going to be hanging out in the produce section,” Orth said. “At the market, all our produce is always zero points, because it’s so important and we want people to take it.”
Starting next week, the Post Falls Food Bank will also be open to residents of Rathdrum each Monday from 1 to 6 p.m., according to Orth.
The event Wednesday featured strong support from first responders, as dozens of officers from the Post Falls Police Department and Kootenai County Fire and Rescue were on hand to volunteer.
One reason for that is Warren Merritt, fire chief for Kootenai County Fire and Rescue, serves on the board of directors for the Post Falls Food Bank.
Orth called this event — which was first held last spring — “Chief Merritt’s baby.” For his part, Merritt said he would like to see the mobile food bank return annually.
Several corporate entities offered their backing, too, by donating money, time and volunteers.
Avista handed out energy-efficient, low-cost items such as light bulbs that would help attendees save money on gas and electric bills, according to outreach program manager Annette Long.
Roughly 10 Sysco employees stepped forward to help out Wednesday, and the company also donated food from its warehouse.
Erik Brock of Liberty Lake was one of the volunteers present from Sysco’s community outreach group. Brock also serves on the board of directors for the food bank in Post Falls.
He described the mobile food bank as a nice show of support by the community to look out for one another.
“If we can keep just one family, or one kid, from going hungry today,” Brock said, “then it was a successful day.”