PSE Foundation awards a quarter million dollars to help increase food security and bring awareness to hunger

Bellevue, Washington (6/18/2025) Behind every door in our community, there's a story – parents skipping meals so their children can eat, seniors choosing between medicine and groceries, and hardworking families stretching every dollar at the grocery store.

While some gather joyfully around full dinner tables, others face the quiet worry of uncertainty. But through our local food banks, these stories find new chapters of hope, offering not just meals but a bridge to brighter tomorrows and a reminder that our community cares.

This year, the Puget Sound Energy (PSE) Foundation has awarded $250,000 in grants to 71 nonprofit organizations that are working to increase food security for their communities. The funding supports everything from large-scale food distribution centers to hyper-local neighborhood food pantries, programs that prepare and deliver meals for seniors, and summer food programs for youth and their families.

Food security, which means having consistent access to enough safe and nutritious food for an active and healthy life, remains a critical issue for a growing number of households across Washington State. Several factors contribute to this ongoing challenge, including rising food costs, the lingering effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, and cuts to federal or state food assistance programs that nonprofit organizations rely on.

“Food insecurity is an increasing issue throughout the state and within Kitsap County. Food and housing costs continue to rise. The federal budget being debated in Congress threatens to cut SNAP (food stamps) Medicare and Medicaid;” explained Charlie Thompson, executive director of Fishline. “These cuts, if enacted, will only worsen an already difficult situation. But, together, with community support, we will be able to continue coordinating basic needs in extraordinary ways.”

This June, as neighborhoods across the nation observe National Hunger Awareness Month and Hunger Awareness Day (June 6), communities are highlighting the issue of food insecurity and encouraging support and awareness of the organizations that combat hunger. PSE Foundation is proud to help elevate the voices and work of our partners, understand their challenges and provide funding resources so that they can continue to provide healthy and culturally appropriate meals for every hungry person in our region.

Miguel Saldin, Nutrition Program Manager for Asian Counseling and Referral Service (ACRS) reflects on impacts for their food security work: “At the ACRS Food Bank, we provide more than just food — we offer culturally familiar staples that reflect the diets of Asian, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander communities. Many of our food bank visitors are immigrants or refugees facing language barriers, isolation, and financial hardship. Rising costs, tariffs, fewer donations, and federal funding cuts have made it harder to source essentials like rice, tofu, and noodles — everyday items for the people we serve. These are challenges many general food banks don’t always face. Support from organizations and individuals help us continue meeting these unique needs while also connecting our clients to the critical services they rely on.”

This food security funding joins other charitable programs throughout the year provided by PSE Foundation or Puget Sound Energy, for community-based organizations that help fulfill our communities’ deepest needs – comfort, connection, and quality of life.

Emily Scott, Executive Director of Vashon Maury Community Food Bank shares a hopeful future with flexibility, access, and helping meet people where they are: “The Vashon Food Bank is committed to offering a wide variety of groceries along with multiple ways to receive them, including onsite shopping, home delivery and curb-side pickup. This flexible program model is designed to increase accessibility and to offer customers the most dignified experience possible that meets their household needs. In July of 2025, we will break ground on a new facility, two blocks outside of Vashon town, close to other amenities and on the only bus line and become part of a Community Resource Hub that will offer a wide variety of social services. This new campus will increase accessibility even more and help to increase the resiliency of our entire community.”

The following outstanding community organizations, who continuously work to ensure all community members have access to nutritious food, have been awarded a grant by PSE Foundation this month in hopes of bridging the gap between hunger and hope for countless families across our region.

PSE Foundation Food Security Grant Recipients

Organizations are listed A-Z within their primary county location

For more information about the PSE Foundation, please visit www.psefoundation.org.

Media Contact:

Andrew Padula, 1-888-831-7250, psenewsroom@pse.com