John Hughes (our veep) rang the bell on Election Day 2009 and welcomed Rotarians and guests with enthusiasm and smiles.
 

                 

Jackie Lorenz, introduced by our own Maltby Bill, was our guest speaker from Rotary First Harvest, a program of Rotary District 5030 established in 1982 to benefit people in need.  Bringing in 135 million pounds of produce, this unique program started in the state of Washington and works with local organizations such as statewide Northwest Harvest in Tacoma and Kent and nationally, Food Lifeline out of Spokane and Shoreline to procure, secure and distribute thousand of pounds of food to local food banks and charities.  It’s founder, Mike Shanahan of University of Washington Police takes pride in a 27-year history of supplying food to needy families. 

 

Especially noted, a new program, Harvest Against Hunger, is a “gleaning and outreach program” that develops new, localized relationships between farms and community food banks, increasing both the amount of fresh produce available to food banks, as well as building capacity for volunteer participation.   Staffed by Ameri-Corps *Vista stipended volunteers, the program works to develop models for increasing local capacity as well as increasing produce donations from local sources.  All of these efforts are part of long term strategic planning of RFH to set the course for future programs to reduce hunger. 

 

As part of our club Community Service branch, members are able to participate in work parties the second Saturday in Kent from 9a-noon to pack, load and distribute the millions of pounds of food to our local food banks. 

 

Giving opportunities via Harvest Partners are available by monthly deductions or one-time gifts to Rotary First Harvest.  Harvest Partners provide a stable, predictable source of income, which allows the program to better budget their expenses and more quickly respond to emergency needs. 

 

Thank you Jackie and Rotary First Harvest for bringing much needed attention to the problem of hunger and for providing service and response for those in need.

          

Sgt. At Harms Jorge managed to extract $281 from the wallets and purses of our members – a cash donation to Rotary First Harvest from a generous crop of Rotarians.  

Max once again had hoped for a winning "cluster" This is getting habit forming.

                                                          Susan Webster, Rotary Reporter