On Wednesday, October 22, Seattle Rotarians connected on Zoom for a panel featuring Seattle Rotary Service Foundation legacy organizations to close out the “Basic Needs Month”. The panel, moderated by Vicki Oxley, featured three local organizations and speakers: Wellspring Family Services Interim Executive Director Julie Morris, Seattle Boys and Girls Club Director Tim Batten-King, and Harvest Against Hunger Executive Director David Bobanick. Together with Oxley, the panel addressed food insecurity and hunger relief; housing instability and resources to combat; childcare access and affordability; the lingering impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic; and advocacy, collaboration, and promoting change.

“Without stable access to food, housing, and safe spaces for kids, it is nearly impossible for families to build towards stability,” President Jan Levy said in opening remarks. Batten-King fielded the first question regarding basic needs and addressed how the Seattle are Boys & Girls Clubs make up 35 different locations in the area. These Boys & Girls clubs aim to provide access for kids and families to have an accessible, equitable, and safe place to access resources. “I think that’s the biggest thing for us is that this is a place where no matter what somebody’s culture is, no matter what somebody’s history is, they can walk into our building from 5 years old to 18 years old, and have a safe place to be,” Batten-King Said.

Bobanick shared how Harvest Against Hunger is focused on delivering donations of produce to hunger relief partners to help families all over Washington. While the model of food donations may appear straightforward and simple, the reality is that the effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic have changed the hunger relief model. “The old model of a food pantry… still is a huge component, but what we learned through COVID and subsequently is that there are a lot of organizations touching people who need that assistance that don’t see themselves as traditional hunger relief organizations,” Bobanick said in regard to collaborating with different organizations.