Giving Tuesday is soon. Here are 3 ways to support local restaurants, neighbors in need

More than two dozen restaurants and bars in the greater Tacoma area have joined together for the inaugural Pierce County Dine and Donate Food Drive now through Dec. 7, which supports Puyallup Food Bank.

The sixth annual Hoppy Holiday Food Drive, with 11 participating local breweries and taprooms, also runs through the weekend, wrapping up Dec. 3. This event and Lakewood’s Dec. 5 Fallen Officer food drive benefits Emergency Food Network.

An estimated 1 in 10 people in Pierce County are food insecure, according to the nonprofit food bank network Feeding America. The ratio increases to 1 in 6 for children, and local hunger organizations have noticed.

Emergency Food Network CEO Michelle Douglas told The News Tribune last year that staff and volunteers would typically see some families visit a food pickup site a few times a year. Those visits had increased to almost weekly in some cases, she said.

PIERCE COUNTY DINE & DONATE

The Pierce County Dine and Donate drive was organized by Serve Reserves, a startup that offers a staffing, recruiting and networking platform for hospitality businesses. Founders Jen Selvaggia and Hayden Gienger have worked in the industry for decades. They sent feelers out to their network, said Selvaggia this week, and then knocked on doors to find additional takers.

All told, 27 businesses in five cities have set up donation boxes. Some are offering specials and events this weekend to draw support. There are also posters at each location, where guests can scan a QR code to donate tax-deductible funds directly to the food bank.

“Despite all the struggles over the last several years, the community as a whole is still community-minded — happy to join forces for a great cause,” Selvaggia said in an email.

At Side Piece Kitchen in South Tacoma, co-owner Hailey Hernandez called on the brunch restaurant’s nearly 40,000 Instagram followers to fill their box to the brim.

“Growing up, especially during the recession, my family utilized food banks. Food banks are absolutely incredible, and they’re a necessary and very important resource that are funded and fueled by our community to be able to support our community,” she said in a post on Monday. “I want to have so many donations that we are tripping over them. I want to lose the dining room!”

Known for top-tier biscuits and decadent cheesecakes, the restaurant is offering a discount on cheesecake slices to customers who donate certain items including shelf-stable protein, grains, nut butters, canned soups with pull tops and baby food.

Items needed reach beyond food into essential toiletries and other household items such as dish soap, laundry detergent pods and toilet paper.

Elsewhere in Tacoma, participating businesses extend from Sixth Ave to downtown and the Thea Foss Waterway. Others have joined in Puyallup, Sumner, Bonney Lake and Lake Tapps.

▪ Downtown: Campfire Coffee, APIZZA Little Italy, Rock The Dock Pub and Grill

▪ Sixth Ave: West End Pub, Half Pint Pizza and Pub, Backyard, Triple Knock, O’Malley’s

▪ Lakewood: The Penalty Box, The Tilted Rock

▪ Puyallup: Wicked Pie, The Coaster, Perry’s Cocktail Bar, The Forum, TK Irish Pub, Mazatlan

▪ Sumner: 410 Pub Action Sports, Copper Coins Drinkery, Purdy’s Public House, Log Cabin Pub, Aversano’s, Eternal Soul Bowl, Hometown Charm Cafe

▪ Bonney Lake: George’s BLT

▪ Lake Tapps: Island Lodge by Al Lago

Learn more at theservereserves.com/2024-pierce-county-dine-and-donate.

HOPPY HOLIDAY FOOD DRIVE

You can also drop non-perishables into donation boxes at select breweries, cideries and taprooms around Tacoma and Puyallup.

Tacoma-based real estate agents Catie and John Douville created this food drive in 2019. After their fifth year in 2023, the event has provided more than 20,000 pounds of goods to Emergency Food Network, which works with numerous area food banks and nonprofits.

The couple had done small-scale fundraisers in the past, but their own appreciation for local breweries led them to learn that many businesses want to support such causes but don’t always have the staff or marketing capacity to make it happen. Having an external organizing force really helps, they told The News Tribune last year.

Participating venues in Tacoma include Peaks and Pints, E9 Brewing Co. (both the taproom and Firehouse), Incline Cider House, Narrows Brewing, Camp Colvos, Sig Brewing Co. (both downtown and South Tacoma Way), 7 Seas Brewing (also in Gig Harbor), and North 47 Brewing Co. in Browns Point.

In Puyallup, visit Cockrell Cider and Fierce County Cider to support their bins.

This event has a friendly competitive edge: The business with the most donations wins the annual custom tap handle. There’s also a final hurrah on Giving Tuesday, Dec. 3, at Peaks and Pints in the Proctor District, with raffle drawings for brewery swag and last-minute donation opportunities.

Learn more at hoppyholidayfooddrive.com.

LAKEWOOD FALLEN OFFICER FOOD & BLOOD DRIVE

The 15th annual Lakewood Police Department Fallen Officer Food Drive to benefit Emergency Food Network and blood drive to support Bloodworks NW is Dec. 5. The event runs from 6 a.m. to 5:30 p.m. in Lakewood.

People are encouraged to bring nonperishable food items to the parking lot across from the police station, 9401 Lakewood Drive SW.

People who can’t make the event can drop off donations at these local businesses Dec. 2-9:

• Blue Steele Coffee, 11401 Steele St. S.

• Classy Chassis Car Wash and Detail, 7432 Custer Road

• Lakewood Classic Coffee, 7609 Custer Road

• University Place Classic Coffee, 4828 Bridgeport Way W.

• Lakewood Police Department, 9401 Lakewood Dr. SW

• Lakewood City Hall, 6000 Main St. SW

The blood drive is Dec. 5 at the station from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. by appointment only. Sign up online with Sponsor Code 4109.

Those wishing to make a monetary donation can donate on the Emergency Food Network website here. In the notes section please list the Lakewood Police Fallen Officer Food Drive.