SPOKANE VALLEY, Wash.—Air Force veteran Larry Barringer loves helping people in his Spokane community. He hands out hundreds of meals every month.
“Feeding people has just been a passion of mine for a long time,” Larry said. “Hunger and thirst never take a day off. There’s a lot of hunger out there.”
Larry was born and raised in Spokane, graduating from Cheney High School in 1973. He’s passionate about helping his hometown.
“When Covid happened we decided that we needed to do more because the homeless people and people in food insecurity and elderly and disabled couldn’t get services,” Larry said. “So we came up with the idea for ‘Neighbors Feeding Neighbors.’
The name he chose for his nonprofit makes sense when you consider the village it takes to supply food and hand out meals at his ‘Neighbors Feeding Neighbors’ drive-through events.
“We do a meal every second Saturday,” said Larry. “Our last meal on the 20th of July, it was over 103 degrees. We gave out 549 Otter Pops, almost 600 bottles of ice water. We’re giving out cooling rags…whatever we can do to cool people and to save peoples’ lives in this hot weather.”
The Partners Inland Northwest, formerly known as the Spokane Valley Partners Food Bank, sponsors Larry’s nonprofit and hosts monthly meal events. These events welcome people from all walks of life to come and grab food and other items available to those seeking them. Roy Rojo found the support he needed to transform his life.
“When I came from New Mexico, I started all over again, and all I had was two suitcases, and they gave me so much food and allowed me to fill my cupboards and my refrigerator,” Roy said. “That meant a lot.”
Roy is now part of the village, volunteering to help hand out meals and cooling items, giving back through the same nonprofit that helped him get out of a tough spot.
“It doesn’t take that much time to volunteer and to feel special,” Roy said.
Larry said if anyone wants to give back, he will hold their hand and lead them through volunteering. You can contact Larry at larrygrzdg@yahoo.com
Larry added that Neighbors Feeding Neighbors is always in need of food resources, plastic food containers, and donations of both food and monetary donations to purchase food.
The next “Neighbors Feeding Neighbors” meal will be on Aug. 10 from 9 a.m. to 1 p.m. at 10814 East Broadway in Spokane Valley.
