Pullman church distributes USDA food boxes

Feb. 26—After a morning snowfall, the blue sky began to peak through the clouds Thursday as a handful of volunteers waited patiently at Emmanuel Baptist Church in Pullman to give the gift of free meals to anyone who wanted them.

They stood next to big boxes of USDA food stacked on pallets and were ready to load them into cars that stopped at the church parking lot.

This is the first time Emmanuel Baptist Church has taken part in Farmers to Families, a program where organizations distribute USDA food boxes to food-insecure individuals.

"It was started during the pandemic just when people have been out of work and other hardships," said the church's administrative assistant Carrie Lundgren.

Youth Pastor Joel Moore said a USDA contractor contacted the church when another local Farmers to Families event was planned for the Palouse.

"They were doing a drop-off in Colfax and they contacted us and said, 'Hey we're coming to Colfax, would you guys be interested?" Moore said. "And we said, 'Oh, yeah, we'd love to help out."

Moore said the Farmers to Families program needs volunteers to help with its mission, and he said the church was happy to be a "little cog of the wheel."

"That's a pretty easy ask, really," he said.

While it is intended to help food-insecure individuals, anyone was allowed to drive up and get a free box of food The boxes contained lettuce, potatoes, milk, Parmesan cheese, yogurt, apples, onions and chicken, among other items.

Lundgren said the remaining boxes that were not taken by individuals were donated to the Pullman School District food pantry and the Albion Food Pantry.

Lundgren said the church will continue to be part of the Farmers to Families program in March, and will distribute food again on March 10 and March 24.

Anthony Kuipers can be reached at akuipers@dnews.com.