These Best Friends Find Purpose and Community Through Volunteering

On a sunny day in Grand Ronde, volunteers Chris and Mike unpack fresh produce for families in need. They trade corny jokes and move through their tasks with the easy choreography of two people who have known each other for a long time.

“I’d never been to a food pantry in my life until Mike told me about it,” Chris says. “We were talking one day while out fishing, and Mike said he had started volunteering at Iskam, so I thought I’d go check it out. That was over a year ago!”

Iskam MәkhMәk-Haws is a food pantry and gathering space that the Food Share created in partnership with the Confederated Tribes of Grand Ronde. Named for the Chinuk Wawa phrase “house where you get food,” Iskam is a close-knit community where residents and tribal members come together to help their fellow neighbors.

“I’ve met some really nice people here, and you see the appreciation when people leave with fresh food,” Chris says. “It makes you want to come back.”

Chris and Mike volunteer upwards of 30 hours a week, helping with food distribution days and picking up donated food from the Food Share’s warehouse in Salem. As they stack boxes of apples, they good naturedly rib each other about finding free time to go fly fishing and kayaking.

These two friends embody the dual focus of Iskam MәkhMәk-Haws on food and community building, from food distribution, clothing swaps, and diaper-bank deliveries to culturally relevant classes about growing traditional crops, ceremonial recipes, and food preservation techniques.

Every day, your generosity makes it possible for friends like Chris and Mike to give back to this community and ensures that families have the food they need to thrive.