11/24/2022
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KREM
KHQ
KXLY
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KREM
If you didn't make it to Tom's Turkey Drive on Tuesday, here is a list of local places where you can get free food or boxed meals in the Spokane area.
SPOKANE, Wash. — The KREM Cares Tom's Turkey Drive raises enough money to provide 11,000 Thanksgiving meals to local families.
We know the need is greater and not everyone was able to come to the distribution event.
Second Harvest has provided a list of additional resources for families seeking a Thanksgiving meal this year (Call or check the website of the agency providing the resource to ensure that the activity listed has not changed):
COMMUNITY DINNER, GROWING NEIGHBORS: Tuesday, November 22: 5:30 p.m.
Shadle Park Presbyterian Church, 5508 N Alberta St, (509) 327-5522 (sit down)
FRIENDSGIVING FEAST: Wednesday, November 23: 8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m.
Mid-City-Concerns,1222 W. Second - for members, (509) 747-3257
OTIS ORCHARDS ADVENTIST: Wednesday, November 22: 11 a.m.
4308 N. Harvard Rd., 842-2355 – boxed Thanksgiving dinners
GREATER SPOKANE MEALS ON WHEELS: Wednesday, November 23: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
Silver Café, 509-924-6976
At the following locations:
Airway Heights 13520 W. 6th St., Airway Heights
Appleway Court, 223 S. Farr Rd., Spokane Valley
Clareview Senior Living, 4827 S. Palouse Hwy, Spokane
Corbin Senior Center, 827 W. Cleveland, Spokane
Hillyard Senior Center, 4001 N. Cook, Spokane
Martin Luther King Jr. Community Center, 500 Stone St. Spokane
Opportunity Presbyterian Church, 202 N. Pines Rd., Spokane Valley
Spangle Service Club, 165 N. Main St., Spangle
Spokane Valley Senior Center, 2426 N. Discovery Rd., Spokane Valley
St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 602 E. 6th St., Deer Park
SOUTHSIDE COMMUNITY CENTER: Wednesday, November 23: 11 a.m.- 1 p.m.
3151 E. 27th, (509) 535-0803 - Distribution $12 for members, $15 for non-members
CUP OF COOL WATER: Wednesday, November 23: 12 p.m.- 3 p.m.
1106 W. 2nd, 747- 6686 (Ages 14-25)
CITY GATE: Wednesday, November 23: 12 p.m.- 2 p.m.
170 S. Madison, 455- 9670 Free sit-down meal for 30 at a time
UNION GOSPEL MISSION: Wednesday, November 23: 12 p.m.- 2 p.m.
Men’s Facility, 1224 E. Trent, 509-535- 8510 Men’s Shelter Thanksgiving style meal, - (seating and to-go)
BLESSINGS UNDER THE BRIDGE: Wednesday, November 23: 6 p.m.
I-90 overpass, 4th and Division, 294- 7265to go or seated)
UNION GOSPEL MISSION: Wednesday, November 23: 5 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.
1224 E. Trent, 509-535-8510
BLESSINGS UNDER THE BRIDGE: Wednesday, November 23: 6 p.m.
I-90 overpass, 4th and Division, 294- 7265to go or seated)
UNION GOSPEL MISSION: Wednesday, November 23: 4:30 p.m. – 6:30 p.m.
1224 E. Trent, 509-535-8510
FEED MEDICAL LAKE: Thursday, November 24: 2:00 p.m.
St. John Lutheran, 233 S. Hallet, (509) 714-1150 For Turkey, RSVP and share a side dish for 4.
SALVATION ARMY: Thursday, November 24: 11 a.m.-1 p.m.
in person (in the gym) 222 E Indiana Ave., (509) 325-6821x2122
FEED CHENEY: Monday, November 28: 5:30 p.m.
615 4th St, Cheney, seated
* Covid Restricts apply or may vary
Additional community resources can be found by using the QR code below:
Around the Spokane community, people are hoping to alleviate some of the pressure of the season by footing the bill on Thanksgiving dinners for those in need.
Daily Blast Live: Thursday, November 24, 2022
SPOKANE, Wash. — It can be a lot of pressure to buy the things that make a Thanksgiving dinner.
So, around our community, people are hoping to alleviate some of the pressure by footing the bill on Thanksgiving dinners for those in need.
"We got to put faith into action," Fresh Soul Owner Michael Brown said. "And when you put faith into action, that's helping somebody less fortunate than you."
Brown is planning to provide meals to the first 100 customers Thanksgiving Day.
"We wanted to give them what we specialize in," Brown said. "Ribs, chicken, this year we're giving them a slice of pie with the meal."
This is brown's fourth year of providing a free Thanksgiving meal.
"God put it on my heart first of all and I just believe in serving," Brown said.
Another firm believer in serving the community is Keaton Flanigan.
"I always knew i had a soft spot in my heart to kind of give back or see a genuine smile out of people," Flanigan said.
His dedication to service is what inspired the idea to give away eight Thanksgiving dinners to families in need six years ago.
This year, Flanigan's food drive provided dinners to 500 families.
"The vision just kept growing," Flanigan said.
He says being part of the larger effort to keep people in Spokane fed during the holidays is what keeps his event going every year.
"We are a strong community here in Spokane," Flanigan said. "We can continue to neighbor each other. I'm going to continue doing that."
Flanigan is looking to continue to double the number of people he feeds each year.
Also feeding hundreds of families each year is Gonzaga Prep's food distribution. One organizer says the impact of the annual food drive goes beyond just passing out food.
Over the last two weeks, students collected canned vegetables, boxed dinners, pasta, stuffing mixes and other Thanksgiving essentials.
The school says volunteers raised over 100,000 pounds of food to give to over 300 families, Second Harvest food bank and local church groups.
And for those still looking for their Thanksgiving meal, other resources in our community are available now through Thanksgiving day to help meet food insecurities this holiday season.
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KHQ
SPOKANE, Wash. - At least one Spokane city shelter is facing closure going into winter. And while the Spokane City Council unanimously passed a resolution to set aside $3.5 million for shelters already in place, it may not be soon enough.
Hope House announced it's potential closure because of funding issues in early November.
On Wednesday, however, Nonstop Local learned they aren't the only ones. In fact, area shelter providers met up recently to discuss what they need to keep up and running in the next year to 18 months. That number is upwards of $5 million.
"So, it's inevitable that we will be closing at least some shelters across our system outside of Trent and Cannon if we can't come up with that full $5 million," Fawn Schott, the President and CEO of Volunteers of America (VOA) said.
Hope House is just one of multiple shelters VOA runs in the Spokane area and was created to provide women with a home that has food, warmth, and at the forefront, safety, particularly for those fleeing domestic violence.
After nearly 25 years, that may come to an end.
"I mean, the reality is our women that we serve, many of them are actively fleeing domestic violence, they don't have a safe place to go," she said.
"We know that there are challenges (for funding) to go to larger shelters. Sometimes shelters that house both male and female sometimes have perpetrators that have victimized some of our women, so we need to make sure that our community has a safe place for these women."
The issue comes down to funding. It takes $1.5 million a year to keep Hope House up and running. They've been able to make it work, but that funding keeps getting lower.
They get about $700,000 a year in private donations. And while the city helped expand its services, the county filled the funding gap with $750,000.
This year the city asked the state to help with about $600,000, but that'll be gone at the end of December.
Hope House says in the big picture, they still need about $300,000 to stay open next year.
"If we got the bridge funding, the combination of the bridge funding and the new county award beginning January 1st would allow us to maintain operations through June 30th," she said.
With the city council now setting aside $3.5 million for shelters like Hope House, Schott says, it won't matter, because they could end up being forced to close before that money is approved.
"We won't know of the results of that request for proposal until January, late December to January," she said. "So you can imagine that if without some bridge funding to buy us some time to identify whether or not we receive any of that, or received the necessary 1.5 million to keep our operations open. We're just in a real pickle to be able to keep the doors open."
So while the city shells out the cash to open new shelters, it leaves current shelter providers asking, 'What about us?'
"There's still a substantial gap, and our community is at risk of losing existing shelters for families, infants, women, and some single men," she said.
A spokesperson for the Department of Commerce said Tuesday there is still $5 million worth of "Rights of Way Initiative" funds that haven't been allocated in Spokane County yet.
The city recently updated its proposals to receive some of that money. The spokesperson said those discussions are ongoing.
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KXLY
November 23, 2022 11:38 PM
SPOKANE, Wash — It takes a village to feed a village, especially on Thanksgiving.
On Thursday, starting at 10 a.m., Fresh Soul will be giving away 100 meals for free.
“I just want people to know that there’s people that really want to help people and really want to serve,” said Michael Brown, the owner of Fresh Soul. “Because when you can serve without the expectation of receiving anything in return… then you truly understand what it means to serve… we’re just doing God’s work here, that’s all. ”
It’s the fourth year the East Central restaurant has hosted Thanksgiving.
“God put it on my heart… and you know I’m from this neighborhood,” Brown said. “Born and raised in this neighborhood, 63 years, and it’s all about giving back as far as I’m concerned.”
Ribs, fried chicken, potato salad and pie are just some of the things on the menu. Brown has been preparing since last week and explained his favorite part however is something he’s able to accomplish through the help of the community.
“My favorite part is seeing people opening up their meal and seeing what’s also inside,” Brown said.
Each one of the 100 meals will have an envelope with ‘Thank God’ written on it. It includes a gift card.
“Cause God made it possible,” Brown said.