Northwest Harvest is a direct service agency whose mission is to fight hunger, but we are well aware that fighting hunger requires more than feeding the hungry. To that end, Northwest Harvest is an active, long-standing member of the Washington Food Coalition, the Children's Alliance and the Western Regional Anti-Hunger Coalition, among other advocacy groups. Our leadership has signed onto letters to state and national legislators and provided input to legislative staff on hunger issues.

In 2009, we conducted our third annual session of focus groups, this year involving 68 food bank clients in five different communities across Washington. They joined our facilitators for two hours of conversation about their experiences of hunger and securing enough food to feed themselves and their families. In each community, the value of people talking together about their common struggles was evident. Participants were able to learn from each others’ stories and share information about community resources. We learned a great deal from them; we hope you will also learn from the first-hand experiences of these neighbors and constituents. We will share the results with our coalitions, legislators and others who can help fight hunger through policy work.

View 2009 report
View 2008 report
View 2007 report

We also work to raise consciousness about the extent of hunger in Washington through our quarterly newsletter, our broad volunteer work, our Speakers Bureau and our frequent food drives and other events.

NWH IN THE NEWS

February 02, 2010 The Olympian: State to look into hatchery surpluses [Visit]

February 02, 2010 The Seattle Times: Hunger Action Week shows difficulty of diet on $12 a day [Visit]

February 02, 2010 New York Times: Families Struggle to Afford Food, Survey Finds [Visit]

January 18, 2010 Yakima-Herald.com: Nearly 1 in 4 county residents depend on food stamps [Visit]

January 18, 2010 Reuters: One in eight Americans receives food stamps [Visit]

January 14, 2010 2009 Focus Group Report Released

January 06, 2010 Editorial from Shelley Rotondo, Executive Director of Northwest Harvest

December 04, 2009 KING5.com: Northwest Harvest feeds children on weekends [Visit]

December 02, 2009 Northwest Harvest testifies before Congress

November 28, 2009 NYT: Food Stamp Use Soars, and Stigma Fades [Visit]

November 23, 2009 Watch: Northwest Harvest Featured on Northwest Focus [VIDEO]

November 23, 2009 Watch: KOMO Problem Solvers Food Drive, in memory of Brenden Foster [VIDEO]

November 19, 2009 AP: Food banks burdened by high demand in sour economy [Visit]

November 18, 2009 KOMOnews.com: 'It's unlike anything I've seen in 20 years' [Visit]

November 17, 2009 The Washington Post: Hunger a growing problem in America, USDA reports [Visit]

November 16, 2009 KNDO: Food banks need more donations to meet the Valley's demands [Visit]

November 16, 2009 msnbc: Long-term jobless face frayed safety net [Visit]

November 16, 2009 Seattle Times: American charities may not have happy holiday [Visit]

November 16, 2009 New York Times: Hunger in U.S. at 14-Year High [Visit]

November 15, 2009 The Ledger: American Charities Brace for Grim Holidays [Visit]

November 11, 2009 Read our winter 2009 newsletter

November 03, 2009 Seahawks to Host Annual Food Drive on Sunday [Visit]

June 10, 2009 Mayor's Press Conference: Choose Reusable Bags

June 10, 2009 Kids Out of School Strain Family Food Budgets

March 25, 2009 SeattlePI.com: Port finds home for 12.7 tons of dog food [Visit]

March 24, 2009 Governor Chris Gregoire Volunteers at Cherry Street Food Bank

March 18, 2009 Northwest Harvest News, Spring 2009: Troubled Times

March 17, 2009 Focus on Food Security 2009: Bringing All Voices to the Table

March 06, 2009 Reuters: U.S. economy sheds 651,000 jobs in February [Visit]

March 03, 2009 New York Times: Job Losses Show Breadth of Recession [Visit]

February 19, 2009 New York Times: Newly Poor Swell Lines at Food Banks Nationwide [Visit]

January 23, 2009 Governor Gregoire challenges Washingtonians: Commit at least one hour a month to helping others