Vancouver nonprofit Share holds food drive to kick off appeal for meals, help kids and homeless

VANCOUVER Wash. (KPTV) - The FOX 12 Hunger Free Project is showing ways we can all work together to help solve hunger in our community.

Thursday the non-profit Share in Vancouver held a food drive to provide meals for kids and people experiencing homelessness.

“It was just sitting in our cabinet. We’re like, why not, someone probably needs it more than I do,” Samantha Hills said as she was dropping off food.

Other donations are for the many programs Share has for kids, from the backpack program providing weekend meals during the school year, to fresh food and pantry food boxes, to the summer meals program which offers free meals to kids 18 and under June 20 through mid-August.

“The children that are accessing meals are ones that are at risk of food insecurity. They’re kids who access free and reduced lunches during the school year so when schools out we really worry that there are people not getting enough nutritious food,” Share Community Relations Director Jessica Lightheart said.

Share helps thousands of people with food every month. During the school year, it gives food bags to more than 850 kids and their families.

Since the pandemic, the need has been huge.

“So many of our programs just saw like triple the need immediately from February to March of 2020 but those numbers haven’t really started to cress and come down. Rising food costs aren’t helping so people are really in need of food assistance.”

It alleviates some stress for parents on tight budgets.

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