STORY AND PHOTOS BY KAREN BOSSICK

Fernanda Gonzalez-Hausske didn’t mince words as she stepped to the podium at The Argyros Wednesday night.

“Hunger does not care that your parents work two jobs, that your family has lived here for generations…that you love unicorns...that you’re 80 or only 5…that you could have so much to say if only you weren’t hungry. I’ve grown tired of seeing hunger show up in little eyes,” the teacher told a couple hundred people gathered at The Argyros.

“The Hunger Coalition provides not just food but healthy food. It recognizes that in this day, in this place, you cannot feed a family with only love. It recognizes you can do everything right and still be hungry,” she added.

Chloe Lichtenberg said she was inspired by her experience growing up in the Wood River Valley to head up the Bloom Youth Project for The Hunger Coalition.

The Hunger Coalition has conducted its Holiday Fundraiser for a handful of years. But this year’s took on additional urgency after a driving incident cancelled Sun Valley Tour de Force’s high-speed event and its gala dinner and auction last July.

Tour de Force organizers rallied with an online auction that raised $450,000, which was distributed to 11 nonprofits. But the $300,000 The Hunger Coalition received was below the $1 million the charity car event donated the year before.

The need has not diminished, given that Blaine County is the fifth most expensive county in the country when it comes to buying groceries, said Krista Felton, director of philanthropy for The Hunger Coalition. Half of the community is food insecure or one crisis away from food insecurity.

The Hunger Coalition, which started as a food pantry more than 20 years ago, serves a quarter of the county’s population, its requests for assistance having climbed 240 percent since the COVID pandemic. It provided 171,000 snacks to youngsters last year. Each month it provides 800 grocery boxes containing fresh fruit and vegetables, meat and eggs to families.

Kandi Blackburn and Ashley Hunter pass around Margherita pizza bites and stuffed cucumber prepared by The Cookbook Restaurant.

And the Bloom Community Food Center, which includes two greenhouses, a kitchen for cooking classes, café for communal meals and community rooms, is partnering with other nonprofits to address mental health, affordable housing and affordable child care.

Years of working hard but barely scraping by take a toll on health, said Felton. “We hear unthinkable stories. The Bloom Community Food Center is a shelter from the storm.  Please join us to keep our community in bloom.”

Cookbook Restaurant in Ketchum prepared meatballs in plum sauce, tiny white dumplings and Margherita pizza on Ciabatta bread for those in attendance.

Among them was Candice Stark, whose Shoshone Project has partnered with The Hunger Coalition to provide food and gift baskets to 150 Shoshone families during the Christmas holidays. There are 14 families on the waiting list, she said, so The Hunger Coalition’s donations will help address their needs.

Runner-up Rachel Aanestad reacts as Chad Brown holds up the card that won him a thousand bucks.

“The Hunger Coalition has been very supportive with food and contacts for The Shoshone Project,” she added.

Chloe Lichtenberg, the Bloom Youth Project coordinator, said she’s overseen 256 student volunteers involved in gardening, cooking and leadership activities. The Bloom bookmobile and food truck handed out 4,500 lunches throughout the county this year.

“When I describe my home to people, I tell them I’m from a place where people’s generosity feels as abundant as the sun itself,” she added.

The Holiday Fundraiser was sponsored by Lee Gilman Builders, Gilman Contemporary gallery and Native Landscapes.

Krista Felton said that The Hunger Coalition harvested 5,000 pounds of produce from its two greenhouses this past year.