Second Harvest awarded $24,000 grant to support hunger relief efforts

The Caterpillar Foundation awarded $24,000 grant to Second Harvest Food Bank to support hunger relief efforts in Spokane County.

The donation, which will provide more than 123,000 meals for children and families in need, allows Second Harvest to bring food directly to neighborhoods through its mobile markets.

The organization’s mobile market is a semitruck loaded with 8,000 to 10,000 pounds of fresh and perishable food set up in a market-style atmosphere that’s provided to families at no cost.

Second Harvest is one of 30 food banks in the Feeding America network selected by the Caterpillar Foundationfor the grant, which will fund one mobile market a month in 2019.

“People who face hunger do not have regular access to or resources for enough nutritious food to live a healthy, active life,” said Julie Humphreys, community relations manager at Second Harvest.

The Caterpillar Foundation, a philanthropic organization of Caterpillar Inc., supports programs to alleviate poverty in communities. It has provided more than $3.9 million in grants since 2015 to Feeding America food banks.