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Subhead: McCune makes a home out of the food bank by creating a community

Local food bank worker, McCune, strives to help those in need in Ellensburg  

Roger McCune could say he has two homes- one in Thorp, WA and one in Ellensburg, WA. His permanent residence is Thorp, but he also has a home within Friends in Service to Humanity (FISH), the local food bank (http://www.kvfish.org/) in Ellensburg.

In the upstairs level of the food bank, is what McCune calls his “pad.” The pad is equipped to let him stay over on days where he doesn’t have time to go home to Thorp.

McCune is a pastor in Thorp (http://www.dailyrecordnews.com/news/uniting-a-communityafter-years-roger-mccune-keeps-his-home-in/article_3dd5acda-b4a4-542b-aa8a-7dbdba2b14bc.html?mode=jqm_com), but has ended up in Ellensburg after he sought out more ways to help. He had previously worked with those struggling due to addiction, underprivileged and other hardships. When he came to Ellensburg to help with the food bank, it was only two rooms in a church downtown. Now, FISH has its own building, and has become a community to many.

“I was really beginning to think there was something else we could do for our clients besides give them stuff for their pantry,” McCune said. When the bank opened at its current location, he worked hard to help provide more than just food.

FISH works in Ellensburg to provide food and community for those who need it, no questions asked.

“You’re never aware most of the times what’s going on in the lives of those who come in,” McCune said. “That’s what you can never begin to judge anyone who comes in.”

 McCune knows that whether it is providing groceries or making meals, those who volunteer or work at FISH aim to help anyone in need.

“[Food is] one of the number one needs in our life,” McCune said.

For McCune, the goal is to help the community build each other up; he believes FISH is about more than food. Sometimes he never knows the circumstances that lead people to FISH, but he is always glad when more help than food can be given. He tells a mother who had used the food bank to help provide as she struggled through addiction issues. When the mother had to go off for treatment, those at the food bank opened their arms to help take care of her daughter while the daughter finished school.

Stories like these are what brings McCune to help others, stories that show how food can bring people together. He hopes that increased awareness of the food bank will encourage others in need to use the resource available.

“It’s about family gatherings, and [people wanting] to belong. It’s about festivities,” McCune said. “ And if we don’t have that, something is wrong.”