2nd Harvest food distributed to Moses Lake families in need
Joyce Luiten, Moses Lake, unpacks a box of cupcakes during the 2nd Harvest food distribution Wednesday at McCosh Park.
MOSES LAKE - Volunteers handed out more than 8,000 pounds of food to needy families Wednesday morning, part of the Second Harvest program's regular visits to town.
The Second Harvest truck set up across the street from the Immanuel Lutheran Church; volunteers set up tables, unpacked food and repackaged it, and handed out produce, canned vegetables, bread, even frozen potatoes.
The Lutheran church and the health district sponsored the visit. While Second Harvest comes to town once a month, food is distributed at the Moses Lake Senior Center the other 11 months of the year, said Ervin Robinson, Second Harvest coordinator.
The 2nd Harvest distributions are open to anybody who needs food, Robinson said. "We provide food assistance to the community."
Theresa Adkinson, of the Grant County Health District, said Second Harvest supplied 8,300 pounds of food. The 28 volunteers supplied the labor. "The volunteers do the majority of the work," Robinson said.
Most of the year the food distribution is on the third weekend of the month, he said, although there are some changes during the Thanksgiving and Christmas seasons. Second Harvest visits Grand Coulee twice each year, and Quincy once each year.
And that, Robinson said, isn't enough, according to national statistics. "We're not getting enough food out there for those in need," he said.
He said it could be there's not enough food available, or it could be people don't know about food availability, or a combination of both. As a result, the Second Harvest program is looking for sponsors in Grant County, Robinson said.
Sponsors can be anybody - a church, a community organization, a business, he said. The sponsors provide the volunteer labor and advance publicity, and "Second Harvest does the rest," he said.
People who want more information about the Second Harvest program can contact the organization at 509-252-6250, or at the website, www.2-harvest.org. It's on Facebook at Second Harvest of the Inland Northwest.