SULTAN, Wash. - Donna Rice is busy fixing dinner for 18. On the menu: chicken and rice, split pea soup, rolls with butter and jam, and for dessert - blueberry cobbler.
Donna is making the homemade spread for the homeless.
She used to distribute the food from a park in Sultan, but then the city told her she'd need to get a permit, pay a fee, and prepare the food in a commercially licensed kitchen. The city says it's all about liability and about improving the town's visibility.
Sultan's mayor helped establish the first family support center in Snohomish County in 1992 to help families with homelessness, counseling, childcare, parenting programs and continued education. The center is still open today.
The mayor also formed the Sultan Food Bank. But she also acknowledges the city has limited resources to provide assistance.
Business owners say homelessness is a problem in Sultan and it does little to boost local tourism efforts.
Still, Donna Rice is committed to doing what she can to help. She will continue feeding Sultan's roughly two dozen homeless, but from the Methodist Church in town.
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