MOSES LAKE — The Moses Lake Grocery Outlet has kicked off this year’s Independence from Hunger campaign, partnering with Care Moses Lake to connect food with the people who need it. 

“According to the USDA’s most recent food security survey, 13.5%, or 18 million, U.S. households face food insecurity,” Care Moses Lake Director Michaelle Boetger wrote in an announcement. “More than 6 million of those households have children. For nearly 80 years, Grocery Outlet has been committed to giving back to local community organizations and Independence from Hunger is an integral part of that commitment.” 

The campaign started June 28 and will run through July 31, according to the announcement. There are three ways to contribute to the fund. Customers can pick up a bag pre-filled with snack foods for the Boys & Girls Clubs of the Columbia Basin and add it to their purchases at the checkstand, or add a cash donation to their purchase. A donation of $5 or more in one transaction gets the customer a $5 coupon for a future purchase. Donations can also be made online at www.MosesLakeGO.com. 

Care Moses Lake will use the donations for as many as 750 Care Snack bags a week for the Boys & Girls Club, as well as food items for Big Bend Community College’s Viking Food Pantry, Kids Hope and more, according to the announcement. 

“(The campaign) has kind of grown over the last several years,” said Moses Lake Grocery Outlet owner Kris Emerson. “I think we usually raise anywhere from $10,000 to $12,000. Some years are bigger than others. Since we’ve been partnering with Care Moses Lake, we’ve been pretty consistent as far as donation levels go.” 

This is the 15th year the store has participated in the drive, Emerson said. It’s a company-wide program across more than 500 Grocery Outlet stores. It’s voluntary for store owners, Emerson said, but most if not all of them take part, teaming up with a local organization like Care Moses Lake. 

The content of the bags has changed from year to year depending on where it’s going, Emerson said. This year the food inside is going to the Boys & Girls Club. 

“They had requested salty snacks, sweet snacks, fruit cups, pudding cups, Jello, that kind of thing,” Emerson said. “Anything that they could put in a bag for an afternoon snack for the kids.” 

The cash donations go into a holding account as credit for Care Moses Lake to purchase supplies at Grocery Outlet, Emerson said. 

“Since 1946, Grocery Outlet’s core values have been built around our desire to both provide and give back to our local communities,” Grocery Outlet CEO Jason Potter wrote in the announcement. “It gives me great pleasure to continue this storied tradition by announcing the kickoff of our fifteenth annual ‘Independence from Hunger’ Campaign. At a time when families are working hard to put food on the table, Grocery Outlet is in your corner.”