Many downtown businesses in Leavenworth bring in up to 40 percent of their income during its annual winter festival, the Village of Lights, which takes place over three weekends in December. Unfortunately, businesses—and the workers they employ—missed out on one whole weekend of holiday income when the storm swept through mid-December, cancelling the Village of Lights.

In mid-December, record flooding and 70 mile-an-hour winds caused major power outages and road closures, and damaged the homes of many Upper Valley residents.

Almost as quickly as the mayhem ensued, people in the Upper Valley and beyond began looking for ways to help.

For about 10 years, the Leavenworth Lions Club has run a food drive for the Community Cupboard in the end of January. Ed Potter and Jackie Sturgis spearheaded the start of the January food drive for the club, which has always taken place at Dan’s Food Market.

Here’s one thing many people don’t realize—although most of the budget for MEND’s financial assistance program is spent on rent assistance, vouchers for use at Das Thrift are nevertheless an important part of the mission to meet each need with dignity.

“If people struggle to buy food,” says Das Thrift Manager Catalina Arellano, “They’ll struggle to buy clothes and shoes, too.”

In early November, Upper Valley MEND Social Worker Liz Hazen got a call. The call came from John at Coordinated Entry, a hub in Wenatchee that helps find housing for people in the area who are homeless.

Coordinated Entry wanted to know if Liz had seen a man on their list, who was homeless and had last been known to be in the Leavenworth area. Liz thought she might be able to find him, and she did.

When Leavenworth musician Seth Garrido and his girlfriend Anna Sandberg heard that the government shutdown was going to affect people’s ability to access their SNAP food assistance benefits, they wanted to do something to help.

“We have some money,” Seth and Anna said to each other. “Let’s go buy some stuff.”

For many years, Upper Valley MEND organized a toy drive for the Upper Valley, helping make sure local families had gifts to give their kids for the holidays.

With all the other activities happening at MEND during November and December, however, managing the toy drive became increasingly difficult. In 2023, MEND opted to partner with the Cascade School District and join the NCW Toy Drive.

When Ryan and Janie Busk first became dentists almost two decades ago, they worked in public health in the Okanogan Valley, providing dental care to people on Medicaid and Medicare. Although the couple now owns Cashmere Family Dentistry (CFD) and they now see a much broader range of people, their focus hasn’t changed.

The holiday season at the Community Cupboard is busier than the rest of the year. This year MEND anticipates even more shoppers, due to the government shutdown that is affecting food and other assistance programs and paychecks for many government workers.

During the months of November and December, Cupboard staff trade out some of the regular staples to make room for holiday foods, including stuffing, canned pumpkin and cranberries.

In addition to harvesting produce to stock the Community Cupboard food pantry, MEND's gleaning program distributes excess produce to a number of locations around North Central Washington. One of those locations is the Wenatchee Valley Senior Activity Center.

Dave Masuda is a man of many talents and interests. Since he retired four years ago, he’s been spending an increasing amount of time taking pictures for local nonprofits, including Upper Valley MEND.

Life happens.

Many people who come to Upper Valley MEND for financial assistance have something in common: an unexpected life event has happened to them, and they need help navigating it.

MEND is seeking applicants interested in joining our board of directors. We're looking for applicants with a broad range of life and job experience that can help MEND better serve our community with their unique perspectives. No previous board experience is necessary. One seat will open in 2026; another opens in 2027. 

Community Cupboard employee Laurie Peek moved to the Upper Valley 51 years ago. Apart from a six-month stint in Guatemala, she’s been here ever since.

“Before that, I had never lived anywhere for more than three years, so I guess I like it.”

Laurie has worked or volunteered for Upper Valley MEND longer than anyone else. In the 1980's, Carl Florea—MEND's first Executive Director—wrote a grant to pay her to come to the Cupboard for a couple hours a week and help people who needed it.

Each fall, Upper Valley MEND puts together a printed newsletter to send out with news and updates about our programs. Click “read more” to access a downloadable PDF.

Amina came to Upper Valley MEND for help with rent. 

“I know it’s only one month’s rent, but it made such a difference,” Amina said. “I could focus on the next step. It gave me a brighter path.”

Amina has a master’s in public health and had a stable job with the Washington State Department of Health (DOH). But in April, federal budget cuts reduced funding to the DOH and her entire team was let go. Amina has been searching for a job ever since, but she’s competing for positions against former team members, including those with multiple master’s degrees and doctorates.

Despite its name, the main purpose of the Tierra Organic Garden isn’t to grow produce. Fresh fruits and vegetables just happen to be a fantastic byproduct that works in the Community Cupboard’s favor.

Under the leadership of Garden Organics Manager Laura Lentz, the Tierra Garden is an outdoor experiential space for adults over 18 with intellectual, developmental and sometimes physical disabilities. As an essential part of the Tierra Learning Center’s Day Program, the garden acts as a place for participants to practice physical awareness of their environment, interact with a variety of sensory experiences, and learn more about plants, themselves and each other.

Gleaning is an important part of keeping the Community Cupboard stocked with food. Local orchardists, farmers and backyard gardeners call when they have excess produce, and Upper Valley MEND’s gleaning coordinator, Alana Springer,  harvests the produce, with the help of volunteers if needed.

“Our program is unique because it’s pretty longstanding and we have many committed volunteers who come to a lot of gleans,” says Alana.

One of the many programs that keeps the Community Cupboard stocked with food is the Farm to Food Pantry (F2FP) program. A joint partnership between Harvest Against Hunger and the Washington Department of Agriculture, F2FP provides grants to food pantries like the Cupboard to buy produce from local farms. F2FP helps financially support farmers and also ensures food pantries have access to fresh, local produce.

Upper Valley MEND celebrated a major milestone on July 23 with a groundbreaking ceremony for a new duplex that will provide two more affordable homeownership opportunities for local workers and families.

The duplex will feature two 3-bedroom, 2.5-bathroom homes priced in the low $300,000s – less than half the market rate – to ensure local workforce members have options to purchase homes and live in the community.