Volunteers sought for 2nd Harvest distributions
Courtesy photo Volunteers sorted and distributed food to more than 200 families at the Aug. 31 food distribution in Quincy, sponsored by the Microsoft data center in Quincy and 2nd Harvest, Spokane.
Courtesy photo Volunteers sorted and distributed food to more than 200 families at the Aug. 31 food distribution in Quincy, sponsored by the Microsoft data center in Quincy and 2nd Harvest, Spokane.
QUINCY — Volunteers are being sought for the next two 2nd Harvest-Microsoft food distributions, scheduled for Grand Coulee and Coulee City.
The Grand Coulee visit will be from noon to 2 p.m. Sept. 28 at Zion Lutheran Church. The Coulee City food distribution is scheduled for noon to 2 p.m. Oct. 26 in the Umpqua Bank parking lot. No documentation is necessary to get food from 2nd Harvest, and no appointments are required.
Volunteer crews are asked to arrive by 11 a.m. Volunteers help set up the tables, repackage bulk food and fill boxes with food as customers go through the line.
This is the second year 2nd Harvest has teamed with Microsoft to sponsor food distribution in communities throughout Grant County. The partners have distributed food in Moses Lake and Ephrata, Warden and Mattawa, Royal City and Quincy. Some cities have received multiple visits during the year.
The partners made their third visit to Quincy Aug. 31. Volunteers repackaged and distributed 9,935 pounds of food to an estimated 209 families, said Jack Eaton, project manager at Microsoft’s Columbia data center in Quincy.
The food comes from farmers and orchardists, wholesalers, retailers, packing houses, shippers, brokers and individuals throughout the region. The Aug. 31 food distribution had the benefit of the services of about 36 volunteers, he said. The Port of Quincy allowed the use of the Quincy Valley Business and Conference Center parking lot.
It being fall, there was plenty of fresh produce, Eaton said. Donations included “several hundred full-size watermelons, ripe cantaloupe,” bags of Gala apples, vegetables, “several thousand single-serve orange juice boxes,” breakfast bars, “breads, rolls, muffins, bagels, biscuits, buns and more,” Eaton wrote.
Volunteers came from the Port of Quincy, Serve Quincy Valley, the Amway/Neutralite and Dell/EMC facilities in Quincy as well as Microsoft’s Quincy facility and Quincy and Moses Lake community health centers. The Quincy Food Bank and Quincy Valley Lions Club provided volunteers, along with OIC, St. Paul Lutheran Church, Thrivent Financial Services, WSU Extension and the Quincy Valley Chamber of Commerce. Microsoft’s Redmond facility furnished some volunteers, and “a father/daughters team (drove) over all the way from Kirkland,” Eaton said.
People who want to volunteer in Grand Coulee and Coulee City, or who want to co-sponsor the program, can contact Eaton, 509-787-6352 or at jeaton@microsoft.com.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.