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SoDo Community Market opens to help those struggling for food

Published  June 30, 2019 12:07pm PDT
FOX13 News | Seattle & Western Washington | Formerly Q13 News

SoDo Community Market opens to help those struggling for food

The market has a different delivery method for people who come in, and organizers say it's less stigmatizing to people who may be embarrassed about needing help.



SEATTLE -- There's a new resource for those who are struggling to make ends meet. Northwest Harvest opened a new community market to help get food to those in need.

The SODO Community Market replaces the shuttered Cherry Street Food Bank, but it's different from a regular food bank.

It's a legitimate market that allows people who need help to pick out the food and groceries they need.

Organizers say that's not just a better delivery method - it's less stigmatizing, too.

“We think people from all over the Seattle-area and beyond will come here to do their shopping,” Northwest Harvest’s CEO Thomas Reynolds said. “And there’s no embarrassment at check out; everything’s free here."

The market is supported, in part, by a $600,000 grant from Amazon, and it can serve up to 5,000 people every week.

They say one-in-nine Washington residents experience food insecurity on a weekly basis and one-in-six kids here live in a home that doesn’t know where their next meal is coming from.