Helping hands Volunteers needed for Quincy food distribution
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 7 years, 5 months AGO
Courtesy photo Volunteers turned out to repackage and distribute food to Royal City residents at the 2nd Harvest food distribution Aug. 17. The organization partners with the Microsoft facility in Quincy and sponsors in each community for the program.
Courtesy photo Volunteers turned out to repackage and distribute food to Royal City residents at the 2nd Harvest food distribution Aug. 17. The organization partners with the Microsoft facility in Quincy and sponsors in each community for the program.
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | August 29, 2017 3:00 AM
QUINCY — Volunteers in the Quincy area are being sought to sort and distribute food for a joint food bank Thursday, sponsored by Microsoft and 2nd Harvest of Spokane, in partnership with organizations around Grant County.
Volunteers sort the food donations and repackage them for distribution to local families. Food distribution will be from noon to 2 p.m. at the Quincy Valley Business and Conference Center, 101 Southwest F St. Volunteers start work about 11 a.m. Their job is to break down the large packages of donations, get the distribution line ready and hand out the food.
No appointments are required to receive food, and no documentation is necessary.
This is the second year 2nd Harvest has teamed with Microsoft and other organizations to distribute food throughout Grant County. The partners travel to different cities each month, sometimes visiting more than one community per month. Some cities have received multiple visits. It’s the third distribution in Quincy.
The September distribution will be Sept. 28 in Grand Coulee, and the October distribution is scheduled for Oct. 26 in Coulee City.
Two food banks were scheduled in August, the first at Royal City Aug. 17. Volunteers packaged 6,821 pounds of food, which was distributed to 218 families in the Royal City area.
“All food is donated to 2nd Harvest by generous farmers, ranchers, orchardists, packers, shippers, wholesalers, brokers and retailers,” wrote Jack Eaton, project manager at the Columbia Data Center in Quincy.
Royal City recipients received fresh vegetables including potatoes and cucumbers, fresh fruit including cherries, pre-packaged salad and spinach, crackers, salad dressing, apple juice, “Dave’s Killer Bread (in abundance),” desserts and more, Eaton wrote. Volunteers came from the Royal City Food Bank and AWR (Awareness Within Ruralities) in Royal City.
Other volunteers came from Microsoft Data Center operations in Quincy, NTTdata Data Center in Quincy, WSU Extension-SNAP Education program, Quincy and Moses Lake community health centers and OIC of Moses Lake and Yakima, along with several Royal City residents.
The 2nd Harvest mobile food banks travel throughout northern Idaho and eastern Washington. (The organization sponsors a monthly distribution in Moses Lake, among others.) A schedule is updated weekly and is available by phone at 509-252-6270.
Cheryl Schweizer can be reached via email at eduction@columbiabasinherald.com.
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