ML food bank gets $2K grant

MOSES LAKE — Community Services of Moses Lake, which runs the city food pantry, has received a $2,000 grant from an Indiana-based foundation.

Carmel, Ind.-based TCC Gives presented the grant as part of a series of awards intended “to help those directly impacted” by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a press release from TCC Gives.

TCC Gives is primarily funded by nationwide Verizon retailer TCC, which gives grants to communities where it does business. TCC operates a Verizon outlet in Moses Lake at the corner of Pioneer Drive and Third Avenue.

Peny Archer, the operations manager for Community Services of Moses Lake, said the grant comes with no strings attached and gives the food bank a great deal of “flexibility” as to how it can be used.

“There’s a lot of need, from food hauling to electricity to keep the coolers going,” she said. “We can definitely use all the help we can get.”

Archer said in addition to the high demand, she has seen a lot of fear among those asking for food assistance from the food pantry.

“People aren’t working, and they aren’t clear what’s going on or when they are going back work,” she said.

— Charles H. Featherstone