Northwest Harvest is a
non-profit organization
A nonprofit organization (NPO) or non-profit organisation, also known as a non-business entity, not-for-profit organization, or nonprofit institution, is a legal entity organized and operated for a collective, public or social benefit, in co ...
supporting
food bank
A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchens. Some food banks distribute food direct ...
s in
Washington state
Washington (), officially the State of Washington, is a state in the Pacific Northwest region of the Western United States. Named for George Washington—the first U.S. president—the state was formed from the western part of the Washington ...
. Northwest Harvest distributes food to a network of more than 370 food banks, meal programs, and high-need schools throughout Washington State.
History
In 1967 a group of Seattle community leaders formed The Ecumenical Metropolitan Ministry (EMM), an interfaith organization committed to identifying and addressing the primary problems of the poor and disadvantaged.
Shortly after the formation of The EMM,
Boeing
The Boeing Company () is an American multinational corporation that designs, manufactures, and sells airplanes, rotorcraft, rockets, satellites, telecommunications equipment, and missiles worldwide. The company also provides leasing and p ...
's workforce dwindled from more than 100,000 employees to 32,500.
By June 1971, unemployment in the Seattle area spiked from 2.9% to 13.1%.
Realizing that hunger was one of the most significant problems facing Seattle and beyond, The Ministry partnered with two other organizations to organize a food bank system, originally known as Neighbors in Need. In October 1970, they opened 34 food banks, originally conceived as "a short-term immediate response to the immediate crisis".
Even as the Seattle area recovered from its employment crisis, widespread need for food assistance remained. By early 1972, the network found itself serving 70,000 people per month. The
Reagan administration's 1982 cuts to federal
food stamp programs exacerbated this need, and led to further expansion of the food bank system.
In 1980, Northwest Harvest distributed just over 1 million pounds of food. By 2013 the amount of food distributed by Northwest Harvest increased to 32 million pounds.
Source of Food
All of the food and operating funds received by Northwest Harvest comes from individuals, businesses, foundations, and other organizations.
Approximately 25% of the food distributed by Northwest Harvest is purchased
staples, such as
rice
Rice is the seed of the grass species '' Oryza sativa'' (Asian rice) or less commonly ''Oryza glaberrima'' (African rice). The name wild rice is usually used for species of the genera '' Zizania'' and '' Porteresia'', both wild and domesticat ...
,
beans,
pasta
Pasta (, ; ) is a type of food typically made from an unleavened dough of wheat flour mixed with water or eggs, and formed into sheets or other shapes, then cooked by boiling or baking. Rice flour, or legumes such as beans or lentils, ar ...
, canned
fruit
In botany, a fruit is the seed-bearing structure in flowering plants that is formed from the ovary after flowering.
Fruits are the means by which flowering plants (also known as angiosperms) disseminate their seeds. Edible fruits in particu ...
and
vegetable
Vegetables are parts of plants that are consumed by humans or other animals as food. The original meaning is still commonly used and is applied to plants collectively to refer to all edible plant matter, including the flowers, fruits, stems, ...
s, and
protein
Proteins are large biomolecules and macromolecules that comprise one or more long chains of amino acid residues. Proteins perform a vast array of functions within organisms, including catalysing metabolic reactions, DNA replication, res ...
. The other 75% comes from in-kind donations, mostly from businesses and institutions. The food received from
food drive
A food drive is a form of charity that is conducted by a group of individuals or a corporation to stockpile and distribute foodstuffs to people who cannot afford food.
Overview
Food drives are operated in order to stock food banks that distribute ...
s "provides… variety…
ndhelps break the monotony of the staple food items".
["How do we distribute food throughout Washington?", ''Northwest Harvest News'', Summer 2007; pages unnumbered.]
Distribution
Northwest Harvest operates their own distribution centers in
Auburn,
Spokane
Spokane ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Spokane County, Washington, United States. It is in eastern Washington, along the Spokane River, adjacent to the Selkirk Mountains, and west of the Rocky Mountain foothills, south of the Ca ...
, and
Yakima
Yakima ( or ) is a city in and the county seat of Yakima County, Washington, and the state's 11th-largest city by population. As of the 2020 census, the city had a total population of 96,968 and a metropolitan population of 256,728. The uni ...
. These warehouses allow Northwest Harvest to handle large quantities of food, including perishable items such as fruits, vegetables, and meat.
They also partner with distributors in
Grays Harbor Grays Harbor is an estuarine bay located north of the mouth of the Columbia River, on the southwest Pacific coast of Washington state, in the United States of America. It is a ria, which formed at the end of the last ice age, when sea levels flood ...
,
Lewis County,
Wahkiakum County, and the Emergency Food Network of Tacoma. These organizations often support one another with staff and transportation services to maximize their efficiency.
["Networks of Partnership", ''Northwest Harvest News'', Summer 2007; pages unnumbered.]
Cherry Street Food Bank
Northwest Harvest's Cherry Street Food Bank in the
First Hill
First Hill is a neighborhood in Seattle, Washington, United States. It is named for the hill on which it is located, which in turn is so named for being the first hill encountered while traveling east from downtown Seattle toward Lake Washing ...
Neighborhood of Seattle is the one of the busiest in Washington, providing nearly 1.5 million meals annually.
See also
*
List of food banks This is a list of notable food banks. A food bank is a non-profit, charitable organization that distributes food to those who have difficulty purchasing enough to avoid hunger, usually through intermediaries like food pantries and soup kitchen
A ...
References
{{Reflist
1967 establishments in Washington (state)
Non-profit organizations based in Seattle
Food banks in Washington (state)
Organizations established in 1967