Eagles Nest Community Kitchen is here to help

Joy and Lakeda

If you have been around Winlock lately, you will know there are two very special ladies who have been going around the county giving out free food to those who need it. The Eagles Nest Community Kitchen is typically in the Winlock area once a week helping those in need, but it's not only food they offer, they also provide resources people might not know about. Joy and Lakeda are here to help and prevent homelessness by helping those in need now, volunteering their time to help others.

Eagles Nest offers a variety of resources. Joy stated, "We offer a wide range of programs and resources: agriculture program (King County), mobile mentoring, nutrition program, community health worker, and financial stability. Economic literacy for youth mental health well-being, life coaching, credit repair program, job readiness, homeless prevention, wraparound services, and first time home buyer ship program. We guide people to the resources they may not know of."
They have seen the need for additional help for many, they reside in Lewis County, and they are here to help the residents of Lewis county.

"The reason why I started in Lewis county is because there was such a need for food security, especially the families and individuals that live in unincorporated rural areas that have limited transportation, or none at all, to get to the local food banks or distributing facilities is a challenge," continued Joy. "I did not want to duplicate what was already here; I wanted to be able to partner with other organizations that have the same compassion. Eagles Nest Community Kitchen Mobile Pantry's goal is to expand to reach more families and individuals that are facing food crisis."

They are truly here to help, Joy stated, "Our mission is to bring resources, job, opportunity, and awareness to communities like Winlock, Vader, Onalska and Toledo. By doing so we can put people to work and take the burden off the taxpayers that will help individuals to be sustainable and food secure."

How do they get the food they give to the community? Joy stated, "Some of the food that we give away is through state funding where we purchase it if someone has a special dietary need, and through monetary donations.The food that we distribute is through a strong community partnership that we have established over the years."

"Right now we do not have regular hours, we can't afford to have paid staff to be at our office, so we basically operate with volunteers," Joy continued. "When we distribute, we post on Facebook on Lewis County Mobile Pantry. We're looking for more opportunities and more funding so that we can have our hours set and also our days too, but for now we still have to get out there and make sure families have something to eat. We mostly operate by mobile." Joy and Lakeda are planning on having an office soon.

These two ladies and their volunteers are here to help those in need. If you have Facebook, you can reach out to them on their page at Eagles Nest Community Kitchen. They are going to be a force in Lewis County. They see the problems and want to help those who need it the most. Look out for these ladies in our community, they are very special and will help those who are in need.

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