Northwest Harvest Cherry Street Food Bank

I donate fairly regularly to Northwest Harvest, and I thought I’d write a review and explain why I think they’re a great charity for you to consider giving to.
First, their mission is universally good… who can argue with feeding the hungry? They operate a ton of programs — ranging from supplying many regional food banks across the state, to operating their own warehouse in Kent, to running the Cherry Street food bank. They don’t ask their recipients for any personal information beyond a zip code and the number of people they’re getting food for.
Second, they are extremely careful with how they spend their incoming donations. A tad over 94 cents of every dollar donated goes directly to buying food and operating their programs. They have very little overhead in the way of administration and fundraising expenses, and are heavily dependent on volunteers to help package food and run the food bank.
Finally, they have a direct impact on improving our local community and helping people in need. When you donate your time, cash, or food to these guys, you know it’s going to go somewhere that will help someone that’s in need right now.

looking for a sack lunch or grocery items or a friendly smile this is the place to come to. i cant say enough good things about the northwest harvest foodbank .but first i like to thank all the people who give there time and make this happen to help us all. they provide fruits vegetables grains bread and can goods etc monday –wed-​friday thurday its kids under 5 day they dark tues, sat, sun the sack lunches consist of a turkey sandwich or pbj with a pack of cookies a can pop and extra goodies lie a granola bar .tks to the northwest harvest org and keepon your great work

Note: I’m reviewing and rating this based on a volunteer’s perspective from 2006. I’m sure times have changed by now, but some things might have stayed the same.
I love volunteering at Northwest Harvest! I used to come here in middle school weekly to do random tasks. I bagged and sealed grains, moved and organized inventory, and other miscellaneous jobs. At the end of each day’s session, I passed out individual portions of the items I had previously bagged. This facility is so clean, modern, well-​organized, spacious (it’s like a warehouse!)-it makes you feel like you’re in a fancy, organic market rather than a food bank. Everybody’s always so friendly too, and the clients seem so grateful for the hard work and food.

Is there anything bad that can be said about a non-​profit organization that feeds the hungry? If there is, it can’t be said about Northwest Harvest.
If you’re unemployed, poor, temporarily down on your luck, whatever, you’re also guaranteed to be treated like a decent human being when you drop by the Cherry Street food bank for a bag of groceries. It can be humiliating to ask for help. I had to do it once many years ago. Dealing with people who make it pretty clear they aren’t judging you helps.
On the other side of the equation, if you’ve ever thought of doing volunteer work, it’d be hard to find something more worthwhile and fulfilling. They need volunteers for all sorts of tasks, from sorting to greeting, and your time commitment is up to you. Their website has a downloadable form if you want to organize a food drive. And if you just want to donate food they’ll take it. Money is also good. They buy some items bulk that get distributed, and after all, they have to pay for some overhead.
Northwest Harvest does a lot of good in the community but it’s easy to forget about when the holiday season is over. Hunger is year round. Bad luck can happen any time. Do something good for your karma. Help.