Follow stone soup recipe
There is an old story about a man who made stone soup. He came to the center of a starving village and set up a large cauldron into which he put water and a stone. Passersby asked him what he was doing, then went to their huts to find scraps of meat or leftover vegetables, which they promptly threw into the pot. Soon, there was enough delicious stew to provide the entire village with a filling meal.
In Spokane County there are several abandoned buildings. Some of these could be used to give the homeless a place to sleep indoors. Others could be torn down and replaced with greenhouses to subsidize donations to Second Harvest, as well as provide employment for two people per unit, plus volunteers.
If the citizens of our county would each donate a small amount, we could buy up some of these unused buildings and repurpose them for these or other beneficial uses. In Republic, several people got together and purchased a restaurant they converted into a co-op. It provides low-cost meals and heavenly tasting baked goods. There is no reason why we can’t do the same. Online organizations could bring us help from abroad.
Douglas Benn
Spokane