This mom provides free food, supplies for youth in need at Pierce County skate parks

Every Monday, you can find Joann Wittler at the Sumner Skate Park.

Along with a team of volunteers, the Roy resident sets up tables and puts out boxes of chips, sandwiches, water, toiletries and other goodies meant for young people.

The work is part of her nonprofit organization called Mother 2 Many.

“Our main outreach is youth. Probably 90 percent are under the age of 18,” Wittler said. “There will be some that are totally fine, but there are a lot of them that go home to no parents, no food ... just because they have a home doesn’t mean they’re not homeless.”

The organization strives to connect with youth — whether homeless, struggling or otherwise — by providing them snacks and a friendly face.

When asked if she was the “mother to many,” Wittler replied, “Yes, that’s me.”

The idea for skate parks

Before she moved to Roy this summer, Wittler lived in Bonney Lake for 27 years. The mother of four and grandmother of five said she always had faith and a passion for helping youth.

Over the years, she tried opening a facility in Sumner for homeless teens but couldn’t manage to get a space.

“I remember a lady told me about the skate parks — this is a good place to find kids, at skate parks,” Wittler said. “And usually a lot of times kids at skate parks, they’re their own families.”

The idea stuck. In 2013, Mother 2 Many became an official ministry and a nonprofit shortly after. She put a Mother 2 Many sign on her truck, and a 16-foot trailer was donated to carry snacks and supplies.

Then Wittler and her husband of 30 years, Steven Wittler, started creating connections with local youth at the Sumner Skate Park on the Bill Health Sports Complex .

“As soon as the kids know we’re consistent, that we’re always coming back, they start opening up and talking to us more,” Wittler said. “So many kids don’t think that they matter, and we want to make sure that they always know that they matter and to give them some hope.”

For the past four years, she’s developed a type of second family.

“Sumner’s been our main park,” Wittler said. “We started here — this December it’ll be 4 years — so we built a really good relationship with the community here. Before we go to any park, we’re always approved by either the chief of police or the parks department.”

All program volunteers are required to get a background check, Wittler added.

A second family

Wittler made it clear that while her organization focuses on the youth population, no one’s turned away at Mother 2 Many. She often meets low-income families and homeless adults.

“No one is turned away because we know there are all sorts of people who need help, but the kids mainly, because of the skate park,” Wittler said.

In addition to the Sumner Skate Park, Mother 2 Many visits skate parks in Puyallup, Milton, Buckley, Allan Yorke Park in Bonney Lake and the Enumclaw library. The nonprofit was recently approved to go to Yelm and Eatonville. When school starts in September, it will be conducting outreach twice a week.

Thirteen-year-old Kiara Collins lives in Sumner and has been coming to see Wittler with her siblings for as long as she can remember. She took her sister, 11-year-old Mariella Sterrenburg, and grandmother Betty Clark there for the first time on Aug. 13.

“It’s not like a soup kitchen. It’s actually just a fun place you can go,” Sterrenburg said. “And soup kitchens usually don’t have free desserts.”

“We come here every Monday,” Collins said. “I think it’s really nice because (Wittler) cares about other people.”

A woman by the name of Trisha and her 18-year-old daughter are regulars at Mother 2 Many, and stopped by on Aug. 13 — not for food but just to say hello.

“Today we’re not hungry or anything. We just wanted to say hi,” Trisha said. “They’re all really like a big family now to us, I guess.”

Both Trisha and her daughter have been homeless for six months. They met Wittler in May.

“I went up and just talked to her a little bit and the next thing you know… I just come here because they’re really nice,” Trisha said. “Some days are really bad and just really emotional, and there are other days where this really helps, and they’re there to celebrate that as well.”

Mother 2 Many has helped Trisha with hotel vouchers.

“It makes me cry just thinking about it,” she said. “Just really blessed that she’s out here.”

Mother 2 Many

The nonprofit receives donations from the Sumner Family Center, South Hill Kiwanis, Calvary Community Church, Puyallup Kiwanis, Puyallup and Sumner food banks and more. For more information, visit mother2many.org or the Mother 2 Many Facebook page.