Senior center volunteers feed firefighters

Firefighters work up an appetite saving homes and lands, and they have to eat, often in a small town with no notice of a big need for food.

The Grand Coulee Dam Senior Center served 500 meals this past weekend to firefighters who fought the Northrup Fire that started on Thursday.

The senior center had helped feed firefighters on the Grass Valley Fire a few years ago, and they appreciated it so much they asked if the senior center could help feed them again.

On Friday, a dinner was provided, on Saturday and Sunday both breakfast and dinner were provided, and on Monday breakfast was provided, totaling 500 meals.

Fire crew members picked up the meals to distribute to their fellow firefighters.

The effort was accomplished through the help of volunteers, including volunteers from the senior center and from the community at large.

Most of the food came from the senior center itself, which gets much of its food in donations from Harvest Foods and Safeway.

"We love doing that for them," Cheryl Hoffman, president of the senior center, said of the firefighters. "They do so much for our community. These are people from all over the state or sometimes from other places that come help fight our fires. We don't want to see them too often because we don't want more fires. But we love doing it for them."

The seniors were not the only people supporting firefighting efforts in their own way lately.

Local businesses Jack's Four Corners Chevron, Jack's Spring Canyon Gas Station, Jack's Coulee Dam Gas shared half their supply of bottled water, which they had a hard time getting, with the Grand Coulee Volunteer Fire Department when it was running short.

Then, all the local Fire Departments were the recipients of bottled water that was donated by Home Depot in Moses Lake.

Garrett Jess said a non-profit from Coeur D'Alene called Manna contacted him to see if Jess Ford could house the supplies and let people pick them up there.

Those supplies include water, toothpaste, soap, shampoo, combs, socks, shifts and feminine hygiene supplies for anyone in need because of the fires.