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‘Our community has tremendous needs’: The Church of Jesus Christ donates 36,000 pounds of food to Partners INW in Spokane Valley

Partners INW volunteers Linda Bosse, left, along with Phyllis Arnold and staff member Kelsey Lyle, right rear, unpack jars of spaghetti sauce after a delivery of 36,236 pounds of food was donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Spokane East Stake in Spokane Valley. The donated food will serve 1,000 households. (DAN PELLE/FOR THESPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
Partners INW volunteers Linda Bosse, left, along with Phyllis Arnold and staff member Kelsey Lyle, right rear, unpack jars of spaghetti sauce after a delivery of 36,236 pounds of food was donated by the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter Day Saints Spokane East Stake in Spokane Valley. The donated food will serve 1,000 households. (DAN PELLE/FOR THESPOKESMAN-REVIEW)
By Mathew Callaghan mathewc@spokesman.com(509) 459-5436

Since Justin Carlile became the director of Partners Inland Northwest in 2021, he has seen the number of people grabbing food off their shelves skyrocket.

“When I first started, we were roughly serving 30 to 50 households a day,” Carlile said. “And now we’re upwards of 400.”

In 2025, the nonprofit social services organization, which provides everything from diapers to donuts, typically saw more people in one hour than they used to get over the course of an entire day just four years ago.

To help the 1,000 or so people that walk into Partners INW every single day, the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints on Friday donated more than 36,000 pounds of food for the holiday season.

A 53-foot semitruck drove a little more than 10 hours from a facility in Salt Lake City, Utah, and arrived at Partners INW in Spokane Valley on Friday morning. The truck contained 24 pallets of nonperishable food, like pasta, beans, peanut butter, hot cocoa powder, flour and other canned goods.

Carlile is hoping they can make the food span more than 1,000 households. Because the 36,000 pounds is all nonperishable items, he imagines they will still have remnants six months from now.

“We have people, and they have need for people,” said Mark Spear, a Just Serve specialist. “And so coming together, we’re able to do a lot of good, because you need manpower.”

Just Serve is an online community service platform created by the Church of Jesus Christ. Spear said he finds and organizes 25 to 30 members of the Church twice a month to come into Partners and pack boxes full of food for elderly folks. The boxes are then distributed throughout Spokane County. He estimates they try to pack 800,000 boxes a month.

While Just Serve is bolstered by the Church, Spear said he encourages any and all who are interested, including those outside of the Church of Jesus Christ, to visit justserve.org and check out all the volunteering opportunities. With around 40 philanthropic organizations to choose from just in Spokane Valley, Spear said there are opportunities for people to help out in a variety of ways.

“It’s just a fantastic privilege to work with groups, like Partners, because our community has tremendous needs. A lot of people need food all year round, especially this time of year, and these guys are on the front lines,” said Joel White, the first counselor for the Stake Presidency of the Spokane East Stake of the Church of Jesus Christ. “We have the resources, and they can help get it out to everyone who needs it. Deeper than that, it’s part of our faith in our Savior Jesus Christ, and to follow his example of helping others in need.”

A stake is a group of local Church congregations. It typically is composed of five to 12 individual wards. A president of a stake is not elected; rather, he is called to serve for around 10 years. White is a First Counselor, which means he provides support, offers council and steps in when the president is away.

At the peak of the government shutdown last month when SNAP benefits experienced significant disruptions, Carlile said Partners saw around 1,200 people come through their doors every day. It has gone down a bit since then, but not by much. He remembers when he first started, he thought that 50 people in one day was a lot. He expected the number of people coming in to eventually hit a cap, but it has only grown since he started.

Partners INW offers services other than their food bank, such as utility assistance and access to clothing. For Spear, whenever he finishes volunteering, whether it is at Partners or somewhere else, he said he always leaves with a smile on his face. Beyond fulfilling the Lord’s work, he stressed it is the connections he makes with the community that have been the most gratifying. Whether he is directing volunteers where to put canned goods or speaking with families about their needs, Carlile agrees that it is the relationships he has built that matters most.

“I get the pleasure of, and the honor, to be able to talk to some people who actually utilize our services,” Carlile said. “I’ve talked to numerous mothers, single mothers, working families, that are the ones trying to make the decision of, ‘Do I pay my power bill or do I feed my family?’ And having us here makes them not have to choose between feeding their family and keeping the power on so they can stay warm for the winter.”