MATTAWA — Volunteers from Mattawa and throughout Grant County repackaged and distributed more than 9,000 pounds of food to needy families in the Mattawa area recently. It’s part of a series of monthly food distributions around the county, a partnership between Quincy-area data centers and 2nd Harvest, Spokane.

The 35 volunteers repackaged and distributed 9,332 pounds of food, said Jack Eaton, project manager at Quincy’s Microsoft Columbia Data Center and the project organizer.

Volunteers came from the Mattawa Community Medical Clinic, Mattawa Food Bank and the Grace Lutheran Church in Mattawa, as well as the OIC offices in Moses Lake and Yakima. Others volunteered from the Microsoft data center, Intuit Quincy Data Center and Schneider Electric Mission Critical Facilities, Dell Quincy Data Center.

The food went to families in Mattawa, Schawana, Beverly and Desert Aire and the surrounding area. It was donated by farmers, processors, wholesale and retail outlets and distributors throughout eastern Washington, Eaton said.

Distribution included apples, plums, potatoes and oranges, and canned crushed tomatoes, bread and milk, chicken broth and garbanzo beans. The food went to 247 households, about 1,053 people, Eaton said.

Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at education@columbiabasinherald.com.