Second Harvest finds generosity surges with needs

 

A couple who had never volunteered for Second Harvest Inland Northwest before came to the warehouse on day two of the Spokane complex fires in August and helped five days a week for three weeks because they live in a neighborhood where fires burned down most of their neighbors' homes. They had kept a sprinkler going on top of their house and did not lose it.

"They felt thankful they still had a house," said Eric Williams, community partnerships and media director.

The couple are just one example of how people rose to meet the needs for food and volunteers during the wildfires. In times of greater need for food, he finds that Second Harvest experiences greater generosity.

Kathy Hedgcock, senior leader of philanthropy, shared comments of three women she met at the Disaster Assistance Center.

• Ana and her family just returned from traveling when evacuation alerts sent them back out the door. With three children, visiting family while everyday necessities sat in a home they couldn't access, made Ana feel she was restarting. Food and other resources helped make that easier.

"It meant less stress on us so we could focus on what we needed to do," said Ana, surprised how quickly people stepped forward to help. "Seeing everybody just swoop in and help with no judgment was amazing."

• For Chelsea, food assistance was more than groceries while she, her spouse, their five-year-old daughter and two service animals were displaced to temporary lodging. As the days away from home increased so did expenses.

"We can use groceries. Everything costs so much. To take that off our plate is huge," said Chelsea, who estimated that the value of a box of food helped her family cover two or three nights of shelter. With so much uncertain, meeting one basic need helped preserve other resources for another day.

• Brenda is more accustomed to offering help than asking for it. After wildfires forced her from her home, she stayed with friends and turned to community resources while waiting. Food assistance offered immediate relief, freeing funds for other needs.

What has stayed with her most was how readily people showed up for one another, giving her perspective on the other side of helping others.

"Spokane is unique. It seems like every time anything happens, no one questions," she said. "They start doing things to help others."

Eric finds that generosity was what Second Harvest, the food bank for food banks, experienced during and after the wildfires in August and September through the 26 Eastern Washington and North Idaho counties it serves.

Eric noted that Spokane area mobile markets provided 73 percent more food and served 50 percent more families in August 2026 compared with August 2025.

Accompanying the surge in need was a surge in volunteers and in donations, he said.

"It was instant that individuals, organizations and corporations stepped up," said Kathy. "Some who usually give were giving an extra gift."

In addition to the regular distributions and mobile markets, for several weeks, Second Harvest had an extra mobile market at the Wolff Family Child Hunger Solution Center at 402 N. Perry St. across from the main warehouse. They also partnered with Excelsior Wellness at 3754 W. Indian Trail, in the area most impacted by the Spokane fires to supply food for their Indian Trail Community Care Hub during seven weekdays in August.

In both cases, the usual mix of perishable and shelf-stable food they have at mobile markets was provided, but Kathy said they had to have ready-to-eat foods because families did not have access to kitchens.

Second Harvest had volunteers and staff at the Shadle Disaster Assistance Center (DAC) while it was open. Eric was impressed with how Washington Volunteer Organizations Active in Disasters (WA-VOAD) coordinated the work of faith communities, nonprofits, the state's national guard, county disaster programs, the American Red Cross and others who were there.

"We had to lean on staff and volunteers to step up, but, boy, did everyone help," said Eric. "People in the community continually asked how they could help."

Another key element to the response was Second Harvest's existing network of food banks, including Union Gospel Mission, The Salvation Army and faith communities where people also brought food donations.

"After the first days, many evacuees stayed with family and friends, so food pantries around town saw an uptick in use," said Eric. "It was hard to predict where demand would be. We sent food to locations as requested."

In times like the fires, it's vital to have a network of reliable locations with one or two staffers to respond to needs, he said.

"Because most families will take time to rebuild, there will be additional long-term needs," Eric explained.

"For many affected by the fire, it was their first time to access food pantry food," Kathy observed. "Many learned for the first time where the nearest food pantry is."

Eric said Second Harvest is working with area schools for guidance on how to best meet the ongoing needs.

"The schools have their finger on the pulse of the needs, because they are usual sites for mobile markets," he said.

With the surge in need from the wildfires, Eric realized the benefit of being part of the Feeding America network. Five truckloads of food from other areas came as an immediate response.

• Food Lifeline, a sister agency in Seattle, sent a full semi load of mostly shelf stable foods.

• One truck load came from the Washington Department of Agriculture.

• A grocery store that is a generous donor gave an extra load.

• West Side egg donors sent eggs in cartons and liquid eggs.

• A full semi load of food came from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

• Friends at The Idaho Foodbank sent a semi load of shelf stable Chobani milk from large dairies in Southern Idaho.

"To have shelf-stable milk helped because people were not housed, were at neighbors or were in a camper with no refrigerator," Kathy said.

"Being in a network was a godsend with the additional donations at pantries," Eric added. "It was just as helpful to donate to a local food pantry as to Second Harvest. What was important was that there was extra food for people who needed it."

"Needs continue to be high, but generosity comes close to meeting them," said Kathy. "Generosity follows need.

"During COVID, we also experienced people immediately reaching out and asking, 'What do you need?' We are fortunate to be in this community," she said. "Often, we do not need to ask. People want to respond—food donors, financial donors and volunteers. They want to help people in any way they can."

On the first day of the fire, Second Harvest put out big bins and invited people to donate nonperishable food. They filled 27 bins.

"There was a surge beyond the norm, but what is normal is not acceptable," Eric added, referring to ongoing food insecurity.

"While the surge from the wildfires has settled down, but by February and a year from now, people who do not yet have a house will need to come to us, and we need to make sure there is food available in our pantries and food networks," he said.

Eric said there is a usual increase in generosity during the November and December holidays that carries Second Harvest's network through, but there are always people facing hunger in February.

Now Second Harvest is also anticipating the impact of cuts to the federal SNAP food subsidies.

"SNAP accounts for nine times the amount of food distributed in the entire charitable food security system we are part of," said Eric.

There are many variables related to SNAP in proposals now before Congress, including repealing it or modifying it with different proposals, he pointed out. Whether a farm bill passes and what changes it may make to SNAP will have impact.

That's the climate of uncertainty in which Second Harvest operates. It must adapt to be ready to receive and pass on the generosity and volunteerism of the community.

For information, call 534-6678 or visit 2-harvest.org.