Second Harvest fights food insecurity in Inland Northwest

Approximately one in eight people, including one in six children, experience food insecurity every day in the Inland Northwest.

Reliable, consistent access to varied and healthy food can impact not only one’s physical health, but also their mental and emotional well-being. It can be harder to concentrate at work or school, and some people experience heightened anxiety or irritation. Chronic health conditions can also develop with prolonged malnutrition, such as asthma, high blood pressure, heart disease and diabetes.

That’s why Second Harvest is committed to providing not just food to those in need, but access to healthy options and the tools to prepare nutritious meals.

As a nonprofit organization tasked with supplying resources to a network of food banks, meal sites and other programs for people in need, Second Harvest provided more than 114,000 daily meals in 2021. That amounts to 3.7 million pounds of healthy food for the families of 21 Eastern Washington counties and five counties in North Idaho. That same year, Second Harvest’s Bite2Go program provided snacks and meals to 5,532 school children.

Watch the video to learn more about food insecurity in the Inland Northwest and how Second Harvest is partnering with local organizations, schools and volunteers to ensure every person — regardless of age, race, ability, income or status — has access to the food they need to live a happy, healthy life.

Access more information and resources on the Second Harvest website.

“Partnering for healing and a healthy future” is MultiCare’s mission, and it inspires us to form connections that help improve the quality of life for our communities. Community organizations all around us are doing amazing work, and we’re inspired and excited to support that work.

Stories from our Community is an ongoing series conceived to dive into some of these organizations*, bring their stories to life and spread the word about how they are making our communities better.

*Some of the organizations profiled in this series are recipients of MultiCare’s Community Partnership Fund, which awards funds to nonprofit organizations working on initiatives, programs and projects that improve our community.