Growing up, I think Meals on Wheels was the first non-profit I had ever heard of. I was certainly the most memorable for me, and I can’t recall why. Perhaps it they had commercials on Saturday mornings as I watched cartoons at my grandparents house in Spokane WA, or perhaps it was just the catchy name. (I liked, and still do pretty much anything that has wheels.)

Then and now, Meals on Wheels just makes sense to me. Here in King County, they use…

As a 10 year employee of United Way of King County, I’ve been lucky to visit many of the agencies that do incredible work in our community. I’ve had the chance to meet and visit with the people who work very hard every day to help as many people as they can. When I think about the food banks I’ve visited, I recall lines of grateful people, thoughtful volunteers bustling about and stacks and stacks of food.

It takes a lot of work to run…

Bananas, bread—and a Bridge to Basics

If you’re looking for a new volunteering opportunity, consider the Bridge to Basics program. In just a few hours a week, you can help connect low-income people with things like food stamps, utility assistance and low-cost health care.

I work full-time as a writer at United Way of King County. It’s been two years now, and it’s been a great experience. Through United Way, I’ve discovered so many programs and services available for people who need the help.  The…

It’s that time. . . time to start making promises to better ourselves in the coming year. We set lofty goals like “I’m going to get up and go jogging everyday at 5 am, rain or shine” (unlikely) or “I am going to quit consuming all of the things that are potentially harmful to my health” (what is left to eat?). Alas, only about 46% of resolutions make it past the 6 month mark. When resolutions don’t pan out, we feel like…

Have you been thinking about donating to your local food bank? Well, your mail carrier is about to make it a lot easier. On May 8th, you can take part in Stamp Out Hunger, the nation’s largest single day food drive. Letter carriers in more than 10,000 communities will collect food items and deliver them to local food banks to help some of the millions of Americans, including an estimated 16.7 million children who face hunger every day.

Here’s how you can help:

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[Fire roasted tomato and bleu cheese soup with a bacon apple and caramelized onion grilled cheese panini]

Candi Wilvang participated in the United Way Hunger Challenge with her family of three – Mom, Dad and ten year old son (with some help from her 20 year old son). Read about their experience below.

The challenge was an awesome experience for our family to take. I am the mother of two son’s ages 20 and 10. My oldest son Shattuck lives…

One of the main issues facing local food banks and the clients who rely on them is a lack of fresh produce. Commonly donated items tend to be canned and dry goods, which are great, but don’t make for a very well rounded diet.

Fortunately, there are numerous ways to help stock food banks with healthy, fresh, locally grown fruits and vegetables. Programs such as Solid Ground’s Lettuce Link aim to improve access to fresh produce to low-income individuals in Seattle.…

The Climb for the Community team spent all of yesterday on the lower slopes of Mount Rainier training in “mountaineering day school.” This morning climbers started their two-day trek to the summit.

Here’s a report from Molly Nordstrom, United Way of King County’s board chair and the only woman on the Climb:

Today we are hiking to Camp Muir. We will climb from 5,400 feet to 10,060 feet. The trek is nearly 4.5 miles and will take about 6 hours. It’s expected to be

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We asked people to give us 5, and they did…and more! Yesterday, we raised exactly $4,500 in online donations for the Climb for the Community. It’s amazing that we did that in just one day! The money will go to United Way’s Response for Basic Needs, which will provide housing, food and support for people being hard hit by the economic downturn. Funds from the Response are already making more food available for food banks and meal programs. The overall plan is to…

It’s great to have so many people in King County following Hunger Action Week as well as people outside the Seattle-area and Washington state. If you live somewhere else in the United Sates and want to get involved in taking action against hunger, feedingamerica.org is a great resource. King County residents can help by giving to United Way’s Response for Basic Needs and by volunteering.