For Northwest Harvest, a Washington state nonprofit dedicated to hunger relief through food assistance and advocacy, the holiday season is one of the busiest times of the year.

"We see increased usage of food banks at holiday time regardless of a pandemic or not — that's been a trend. And of course, more attention tends to be paid to places like food banks and other services for folks at holiday times," Laura Hamilton, chief advancement officer with Northwest Harvest, told the SGN.

Food insecurity in Washington remains at high levels, with 27% of the state's residents experiencing it compared to 10% before the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a study from the University of Washington and Washington State University published this July.

"We're still finding that for households earning less than $35,000 a year, food insecurity is actually continuing to go up significantly," Hamilton said.

Households with children, as well as BIPOC, transgender, or nonbinary people, have reached the highest levels of food insecurity during this pandemic. Though some hope can be found in the expanding vaccine rollout and improving job markets, factors such as eviction moratoriums reaching their end have left some to contemplate what assistance may be needed in this time of flux.

For those looking to take action, Northwest Harvest offers several ways to get involved with hunger relief. Here are three that interested Seattleites can help combat food insecurity:

1. Organize a fundraiser, or donate money or food.
"We're grateful to be able to receive financial contributions from people having a holiday party or doing an online crowd-funding campaign with their friends. We're able to [give] people the tools to do that," Hamilton said.

Due to the pandemic, Northwest Harvest has temporarily suspended its donation drive program; however, a virtual "FUNDraiser" can be organized instead. Using the organization's website, an individual or organization-wide virtual fundraiser can be set up in a matter of clicks, with promotion over social media and email encouraged.

For those interested in donating food outright, Northwest Harvest asks donors to select shelf-stable foods that are low in sodium, sugar, and saturated fats. A list with examples of items to consider can be found under the "Ways to Give" menu on the website, along with a list of public drop sites accepting non-perishable food donations year-round.

2. Sign up for advocacy.
Much of the work Northwest Harvest does focuses on advocacy and generating change through legislation. One recent push, for example, was for Washingtonians to join the campaign to establish food as a basic human right in the state. Recently, Maine was the first state to pass such a measure, after voters approved Question 3 in the Nov. 2 general election.

"One of the biggest things... to us right now is improving equity in our food system. We have an advocacy team who [are] consistently working on ensuring that SNAP benefits, for example, are at appropriate levels and... that kids have access to universal free meals in schools," said Hamilton.

For those needing help with their first steps into food security advocacy, Northwest Harvest offers multiple resources on its website. Under the "Get Involved" menu, there's a suite of tools, including a legislation agenda, a search tool one can use to identify legislators by ZIP code, and an option to sign up for advocacy alerts, which are prompts to call or email elected officials and advocate for a particular campaign Northwest Harvest is working on.

3. Add volunteering with a food pantry to your New Year's resolutions.
The holidays are a popular time to sign up and volunteer with local nonprofits. Northwest Harvest has volunteer opportunities available at its SODO Community Market here in Seattle, and with regional distribution centers across the state.

But with social distancing guidelines still in place, most volunteer shifts with Northwest Harvest are currently booked, Hamilton said. However, people can still apply to volunteer at any time, and availability often opens up following the holiday season.

"Everyone's thinking about volunteering at the holidays, and then the middle of winter is when people tend to forget about it," said Hamilton. Those interested can apply to volunteer as an individual or group on Northwest Harvest's website, under the 'Get Involved' menu.

"It can be that the holiday season is the time that sparks your thoughts about it," Hamilton said. "And then what [is] your plan for the long term?"

For access to all resources listed above and more, please visit Northwest Harvest's website at https://www.northwestharvest.org/.