The Hunger Coalition works to make Thanksgiving special for food insecure families

BELLEVUE, Idaho (KMVT/KSVT) — The Blaine County Hunger Coalition has been helping people who are struggling with food insecurity since 2003, and have seen more people the past two years than ever before.

Ahead of Thanksgiving, they are adding a few extra touches to make the holiday season a little brighter.

Pies have been a part of a traditional Thanksgiving meal since 1796. In Bellevue, at the Bloom Community Food Center, volunteers have spent the past week baking close to 500 pies for families in need.

“We really like this fun addition to the Thanksgiving basket because it’s already made, participants don’t need an oven in order to make it, it’s a nice homemade community touch to the Thanksgiving baskets,” said Sloan Storey with the Hunger Coalition.

At their new center, they are able to welcome volunteers to their community kitchen to learn how to bake pumpkin pies.

“We’re really excited about this whole space, especially the kitchen (and) all the opportunities that come with it for connection. It’s been really fun having people in here baking pies, cause we’ve had professional bakers right next to people who have never baked in their entire life,” said Storey.

One volunteer says she has enjoyed her time volunteering and knows it will have an impact on lots of families.

“It’s a lot of fun, just community,” said Amanda Moulton, a volunteer. “I like to spend time cooking and talking to people and helping all at the same time so it’s fun.”

The Hunger Coalition has been helping more families than ever before since the pandemic began, and are hopeful the simple gesture of a holiday pie will brighten the holiday season.

“What we’ve always kind of said is there are so many in our community who are one crisis away from needing assistance, especially food assistance, and what we saw with the pandemic was that crisis hitting a quarter of our community and a third of our community all at once,” said Storey.

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