Mattawa works to open food bank

April meeting discusses proposals for creation of board, fund-raising sources

MATTAWA — When Lisa Hall heard that families from Mattawa were travelling to the Apoyo Food Bank and Clinic in Ellensburg just to get food, her employer, Northwest Harvest of Yakima, decided to lend a helping hand.

"Why have them drive that far?" Hall, a warehouse coordinator at Northwest Harvest, said.

Since December, Northwest Harvest has been donating food to the Ellensburg food bank. From there food is taken to the provisional food bank in Mattawa, currently open every other Friday from 5 to 6 p.m. at 200 Saddlemountain Drive.

Northwest Harvest is the only statewide hunger relief agency in Washington. It provides food for distribution to warehouses in Grays Harbor, King, Stevens and Yakima counties.

Hall said Northwest Harvest has been assisting by offering donations, advice and moral support to the Mattawa community because they want to help them establish a permanent food bank.

Operating out of a shop attached to a residence, the current food bank in Mattawa is not adequate for the need within the community.

That is why Hall, several women of the group Entre Mujeres, representatives from the Northwest Justice Project, Women's Justice Circles and many community members are working to create a more sustainable food bank.

There is a large effort being made not to let these families go hungry, said Patty Diaz. Diaz is the community educator legal advocate with the Northwest Justice Project and coordinates activities with Entre Mujeres.

At the latest meeting held April 15 in Mattawa, proposals were heard on the establishment of an ad hoc committee, a board of directors and funding sources for the new food bank.

"There was really a feeling of unity, compassion," said Rosalinda Aguirre of the meeting. Aguirre is the Justice for Women coordinator with the Intercommunity Peace & Justice Center out of Seattle.

The next step is for organizers to go through the list of suggestions made at the April 15 gathering, considering potential candidates to sit on the ad hoc committee and board of directors.

Aguirre said it is hard to tell how long all of the logistics of the plan will take before the community is ready to open a permanent food bank, but commented it will be a comprehensive process.

Volunteer Maria Sanchez sees anywhere between 200 and 230 people every two weeks at the temporary food bank site in Mattawa that opened in November.

Eventually, Sanchez hopes to see the new food bank open two days a week with a full-time staff person.

Hall said in the past, Mattawa has not been able to get enough people involved to sustain a food bank on a regular basis.

"They just really didn't have the structure in place to sustain it," Hall said. "It really shouldn't be dependent on one or two people."

That appears to be changing now as several groups within the community and outside agencies are taking interest in providing needed services for the people of Mattawa.

"I think they're on the right track as far as getting a board set up and getting a variety of people from the community involved," Hall said.