Care Moses Lake unveils new van

MOSES LAKE — Care Moses Lake will hit the road this year in a new van, with help from the Rotary Club of Moses Lake and the Kiwanis Club of Moses Lake. 

“Kiwanis came up with the idea after a conversation with Care Moses Lake,” said Rotarian Dave Campbell at the van’s unveiling Monday. “It was a project for consideration of our golf tournament … and that ended up materializing into what we have today.” 

Campbell said that the annual golf scramble held jointly between the Rotary Club and Kiwanis brought in a little over $14,000. The Rotary Club also obtained a $10,000 grant from the Rotary Foundation, and the Paul Lauzier Foundation supplied another $15,000. That left a little less than $6,000 that Care Moses Lake had to come up with, and the van was theirs. 

The van isn’t brand-new, but it’s only a year old with 25,000 miles on it, said Care Moses Lake founder Michaelle Boetger. 

It will have a lot more miles soon, according to an email Boetger wrote to the Columbia Basin Herald. Care Moses Lake delivers 200 Care Sack lunches every week to the Open Doors Sleep Center, the Moses Lake Food Bank and Big Bend Community College’s Viking Food Pantry, she wrote, as well as a hot meal twice a week for the sleep center residents. They also pick up donations of sliced apples from Okanogan Specialty Fruits to deliver to local nonprofits and deliver things like socks and winter clothing to the sleep center as well.  

“The van really comes in handy when picking up month or two worth of Care Sack supplies from our local Grocery Outlet,” Boetger wrote. “Things like chips, granola bars, cereal cups, cookies, applesauce, et cetera.” 

Boetger created the graphics for the van herself, and Signs Now wrapped it, she said.  

“This van will be a moving billboard sharing our name and message with the community as it travels around town doing pickups and deliveries for our non-profit programs,” she wrote. 

Besides the donors, Boetger credited longtime partners Michaelle Boetger Graphic Designs, Grant County PowerNet, Sarah Bullinger — Movement Mortgage, Lioness Club of Moses Lake, the Moses Lake Grocery Outlet and Barry Automotive in Ephrata for helping make the van a reality. 

“We’re just happy to be able to support another project with our partners at Kiwanis to serve a need in the community,” said Rotary Club of Moses Lake President Amy Raymond. “We think it’s going to do a lot of good for the people of Moses Lake.”