NEW Hunger Coalition Gets Fresh

The Northeast Washington (NEW) Hunger Coalition will be awarded the Fresh Results Award for their Grow Your Own Row program on Friday, July 11. The nonprofit organization that serves food pantries and community partners in Stevens, Ferry, and Pend Oreille counties, is focused on advocacy and education for food pantry efforts as well as building emergency food systems in rural areas. 

“The goal of the Grow Your Own Row program is to teach and equip clients so that they may grow their own food,” said Stephani Smith, NEW Hunger Coalition’s executive director. “We take plant starts provided by local growers. People will get seeds, starts, instructions, soil, and trowels. The idea is to equip people with a vegetable garden at no cost.”

The Grow Your Own Row program partners with SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program) in teaching people how to grow their own fruits and vegetables. The pilot program began in 2023 and saw an enrollment of 298 participants;  that number increased to 429 in 2025.

Smith, who used to own Stephani’s Oak Street Grill restaurant in Colville, has been the director of NEW Hunger Coalition for the past three years. She said her job includes writing grants, coordinating volunteers, and ensuring the programs are running smoothly. NEW Hunger Coalition is a part of Providence of northeast Washington and maintains the Farm to Food Pantry program, which transports nutrient-dense fruits and vegetables to the counties and the Donate A Row/Gleaning program, which assists home gardeners with planting extra produce to donate to the food pantries. 

“We are at risk of losing money for this program due to cuts in federal funding,” Smith said. “There is not a lot of state funding available. We rely on donations. For example, North 40 donates seeds to the program.”

Smith also writes letters and does community drives. “I look on Facebook for free [planter] pots. All of our seeds are donated. We get seeds that are still viable but not legal to sell, due to their being at the end of their useful life.”

The Fresh Results Award will be presented at the NEW Hunger Coalition monthly meeting, which includes a luncheon and an educational update. “The Washington Food Coalition will provide a $1,000 check to support us next year,” said Smith. “The Grow Your Own Row program is always looking for volunteers, especially those that are experienced gardeners to help at the classes. We have a Grow Your Own Row Committee that plans and rolls out the program. A lot of excellent volunteers make this program a reality.”

For more information, contact Smith at 509-690-2460 or Dianna Michaels, the committee chair, at 509-680-2679, or visit the NEW Hunger Coalition at their website, newhungercoalition.org.