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.

In the first several months of 2025, Interim Community Cupboard Manager Lily Roberts was driving to Wenatchee four times a week to buy enough food to keep the food pantry’s shelves stocked. That’s twice as often as in 2024, reflecting the increase in shoppers in the beginning of this year.

Maintaining full pantry shelves despite the increased demand stretched the Cupboard far beyond its capacity. In March 2025, the costs for running the Cupboard were more than double the allocated budget.

Gracious.

Kind.

Humble.

Didn’t toot his own horn.

These are the words his friends used to describe John Butruille, who passed away in May. Despite his humble nature, John’s presence in the Leavenworth community was larger than life.

Das Thrift is a small thrift store on the corner of Front Street and 14th Street, just off Highway 2 in Leavenworth. Despite its limited space, it boasts a broad mix of clothing for both children and adults, shoes, bedding, household items and books.

The thrift store began as part of the Community Cupboard food pantry, originally sharing its space further down the block. Although the two became separate locations in 2018, they are still inextricably linked.

Paige Runions wanted to start volunteering at Das Thrift about six years ago, but she couldn’t—she was too young. She had wait one year, when she turned 12.

Now a 17-year-old high school senior about to graduate, Paige’s role at Das Thrift has grown with her. Das Thrift was the first place she volunteered on her own, without a family member present. It was also the first place she’d ever interviewed when she applied for a job after she turned 15.

In our fourth article about the March 2024 survey, we’re touching on the request for connection and belonging that surfaced in the results.

Our survey results highlighted MEND's strong alignment with core values while revealing that connection and belonging represent areas of both current strength and future opportunity.

In our third article about improvements to Upper Valley MEND based on a 2024 survey, we’re addressing mental health awareness.

In the survey MEND conducted across a portion of staff members, board members and volunteers, participants expressed a desire for more training and support around caring for others, especially related to mental illness.

Miguel, a single dad and forestry worker, has lived in the same duplex in Leavenworth since 2010. His desire for a quiet place to raise his family prompted the move, from one apartment owned by the Marsons—one with loud neighbors who partied a lot—to this one on Joseph Street.

Miguel has stayed in the apartment for 15 years because of how much he likes it, and the neighborhood he lives in.

MEND Housing Manager Kathia Wan Mendizabal first learned the importance of stable housing in Peru, where she’s from. For three years, she worked for the Ministry of Education, traveling around the country and collecting data to help the government better understand why Peru has one of the lowest education rates in the world.

“I realized that there are many factors within a family that could affect their wellbeing—that could reduce their ability to care for their children.”

In our second article in our series about improvements made to MEND based on feedback gleaned through a survey in early 2024, we’re talking about the value of inclusion.

As part of our organization’s mission to meet each need with dignity, we strive to make all community members we encounter feel included—whether they’re our clients, volunteers or staff members.

In the spring of 2024, Upper Valley MEND conducted a survey with our staff, board members and volunteers—valued members of our team who are most familiar with our workplace culture, as well as our programs and services.

We have put together a series of articles to cover some of the findings of that survey and the changes they have brought about in our organization as a result.

When Mike and Carol Wentink discuss the people they care about—their employees, family, guests, and the Upper Valley community—their deep compassion rings through everything they say.

“Life is about people,” says Mike. “It’s not about other things. It’s about people.”

When Marisol Reyes’ 7-year-old son Damian got sick with the flu this winter, she had to take a week off work to take care of him. As a single mom, the 29-year-old didn’t really have another alternative. And since January is inevitably a slow time of year for most businesses in the Upper Valley and she only earns minimum wage at the restaurant where she works, she didn’t have the kinds of tips she needed available to her to cover that lost weeks’ worth of income.

Many of you have been reaching out to staff at MEND to ask how federal and state budget priorities are affecting our programs, clients, and staff. Thank you for your thoughtfulness!

The short answer to these questions is this: we don't know yet what the full impact will be, and MEND is fortunate currently to have a stable financial footing and solid support from our community.

Egg prices recently reached a record high in the U.S., which many of us already know from shopping for them ourselves.

While eggs used to be an affordable, easy way to get protein, bird flu has made this dietary staple into one that’s harder to afford.

When Reese Bradburn first moved to Leavenworth in high school, he felt like he’d come home, which wasn’t necessarily the same as other members of his family felt.

Twenty-five years later, he’s still here, and still enjoying the outdoor recreation that called to him then.

Every third Monday, Jane Lee and Judy Huett-Harris arrive at the Upper Valley MEND’s Free Clinic upstairs at Cascade Medical Center. They’re both nurses who have semi-retired and keep their nursing licenses by continuing to volunteer at the clinic.

But that’s far from the only thing they have in common.