Pack bags for S-R’s food drive
Don’t toss the bright yellow bag you found inside today’s paper.
Take it to your pantry and pull out anything you can spare for a hungry family in the Inland Northwest for The Spokesman-Review’s annual food drive.
This is the 10th year of the food drive. Last year, newspaper carriers and volunteers collected more than 54,000 pounds of food, which helped provide nearly 40,000 meals last summer, said Ann Price, director of community relations for Second Harvest Food
“Food collected during The Spokesman-Review food drive is vital to providing thousands of meals and snacks for hungry kids during the summer,” Price said in a news release.
More than 196,000 people – including 87,000 children and 11,000 seniors – receive emergency food assistance from Second Harvest each year. Some rely on food from the Second Harvest and the programs it serves for monthly help, others turn to the food bank for food during sudden hard times such as an illness, loss of a job or their health insurance is disrupted, according to Second Harvest.
To help, fill the yellow bag with nonperishable food items. A wish list of the most needed items can be found at www.2-harvest.org. Peanut butter, canned meats and fish, macaroni and cheese, soups and stews, canned fruits and vegetables, boxed mashed potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals and boxed baking mixes are among the best things to donate.
Leave the bag where your Spokesman-Review newspaper carrier delivers the morning paper on Friday night. It will be picked up Saturday morning. More than 400 carriers and 80 other volunteers will be collecting the donations.
If the bag has not been collected by noon Saturday or you did not receive a bag and would like to contribute, donations can be taken to any fire station in Spokane, Spokane Valley or North Idaho.
Farmers’ Market for Life
Learn how to make the fresh local ingredients sold at farmers’ markets an integral part of your life with a new class taught by Chef Peter Tobin from the Inland Northwest Culinary Academy.
Students will watch and discuss a film about sustainable agriculture, tour the farmers’ market, learn how to cook using seasonal foods and eat lunch prepared with local ingredients purchased at the farmers’ market.
The class, offered through the Community Colleges of Spokane, will be held June 20 and 21. On June 20, the class will be held from 9 a.m. to noon and June 21 it runs from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. It is $40.
For more information, call (509) 533-8892. To register, call (509) 533-8010.