The Columbia-Snake River Irrigators Association (CSRIA) is donating a truckload of potatoes and apples to the White Center Food Bank in Seattle on Jan. 6.
The donation came about as a result of a meeting CSRIA had with Rep. Sharon Nelson who helped connect the association to the food bank.
"As we fight through this recession, we all need to work together so that families living in the richest nation on earth don't go without food, the most basic need of all," Nelson says.
Food bank executive director Rick Jump says there are more people than ever in the food bank lines.
The White Center Food Bank's mission is to minimize hunger while nourishing community, nurturing self-reliance and embracing the area's rich cultural diversity. It has been helping out people in need for over three decades and serves more than 1,200 families each month.
In 2007, it provided enough food for more than 53,000 individuals including 21,000 children.
The CSRIA membership irrigates about 250,000 acres of row crop, vineyard, and orchard lands in Washington State and primarily consists of operations along the Columbia-Snake River system.
"CSRIA and its members recognize that many people in Washington State are struggling right now to feed themselves and their families, and we are happy to support White Center Food Bank to help provide food to those in need," CSRIA President Ron Reimann says.