Lions Club Fills the Post-Holiday Gap at Community Cupboard

The Lions Club has hosted yearly food drives for the Community Cupboard at Dan's Market for about 10 years. In 2025, the club hosted both their annual drive in January and one in May. Dan's previous owners (pictured here with Lions Club volunteers) and its new owners have all supported the Cupboard.

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.

Ed says he realized how important after-holiday support is for service organizations when he was about 8 years old, on a cold, wet, gray day in January in Seattle. He overheard an unhoused man asking an employee at a Salvation Army when they were going to have their big turkey dinner. The woman turned to the man and said, “I’m sorry, we already had it.” He realized that the need doesn’t end when the holiday season ends. When he and Jackie decided to start food drives for the Cupboard, Ed thought of that memory and suggested they have it in January.

Leavenworth workers’ need for post-holiday help

Ed has lived in Leavenworth since 1970. Although he knows the Upper Valley has many of the same problems as other communities, there are some specific issues that make aid after the holidays especially necessary in Leavenworth. One is the drop in tourism that comes after the new year, which means fewer hours for the seasonal workers who work in jobs that cater to the tourists. The other is the lull in agricultural work that happens over the winter months. Both of those factors mean there are more people who need help, and the Lions Club has been working for a decade to help meet that need.

In addition, the club also collects non-perishable foods at the first meeting of each month and donates funds when they can. This year, many of their members worked as ambassadors during the Village of Lights weekends and donated the money paid to them by the Chamber of Commerce to MEND and two other local nonprofits.

“As we enter the new year after the holidays, the support diminishes,” says Community Cupboard Manager Rachel Bishop. “That’s when we start to really feel the need for extra food and extra funding to continue to serve those 2,000 individuals every month. Folks are in need all throughout the year, not just during the holidays.”

MEND is grateful for the Lions Club for facilitating food drives all year long, and for the community support that ensures we can continue to offer aid to our neighbors who need it, regardless of the time of year.