SPOKANE, Wash. — A local bakery will provide free bread and meals to anyone who asks as part of a new program launched to address hunger in the community.
On Friday, Great Harvest Spokane, a worker-owned cooperative bakery, announced its new “Food for Friends” program.
The initiative will operate with no questions asked, no paperwork required and no expiration date. Anyone needing food can tell staff they need to “feed a friend” and will receive two sandwiches and a loaf of bread to take home or share.
“This isn’t charity,” said Sara Kersey, operations director of Spokane Workers Cooperative. “It’s solidarity. We believe no one in our community should go hungry while wealth and power concentrate in fewer and fewer hands.”
Spencer Vaughn, Great Harvest front of house manager, said the program aligns with his hopes when joining the cooperative.
“When I took this job at a co-op, I hoped I would be able to help people in some way,” Vaughn said. “This is exactly the kind of thing I was hoping for.”
The bakery emphasized the commitment will be ongoing rather than a temporary response to current economic conditions.
“Our leaders at all levels are choosing to squabble while working people suffer,” said Luke Baumgarten, Spokane Workers Cooperative board president. “Until we can count on them to lead, we’re going to do what we can to care for one another, right now.”
The workers acknowledge the program carries business risks but expressed confidence in community support.
“In the end, we’re putting our trust where we always have, in the people of Spokane — and in the idea that, if we care for our neighbors, our neighbors will care for us,” Baumgarten said.
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