Women & Children's Free Restaurant & Community Kitchen — Local services in Spokane

Providing access to food is never a bad thing but these people have a horrible attitude towards low income people and seem to see their clients as inferior. The food is mostly produce and a lot of it is expired far past the expiration date. I believe one of my items was over a year past expiration and the bread I received got moldy within days. I just end up throwing most of it out. They also use permanent marker to mark up your car. At first I thought this was so they could tell which number you are in line but then I noticed everyone gets a 1 as they are LEAVING, which leads me to believe they're making sure people don't double dip and return to get more food. This shows how low of an opinion they have towards their food bank particpants.. The marker doesn't even come off after a car wash. I'm not sure how I'm going to get this number off of my car, my personal property. It may seem trivial but it gives the attitude of not needing to respect people's boundaries just because they are poor. I will not be returning for these reasons. This is a picture of my car with the permanent marker still on it after several weeks and immediately after going through the car wash... **Update: I returned to get some Thanksgiving food and was greeted by people that said I needed to show my ID (seems a bit excessive just for picking up food but ok). The line was long and I was sitting there for some time with my cranky toddler in the backseat so I was keeping her occupied with my phone. Admittedly I didn't notice when one of the line attendants motioned for me to approach the next stop. As I approached the front of the line this very rude older lady told me to shut off my phone. I was shocked. I had been waiting patiently for some time in the long line and she told me I needed to turn my phone off or they wouldn't serve me! I looked at her in disbelief as she took the paper in her hand that she was going to give me and yanked it back, like a parent taking candy from a child. She told me I had to shut my phone off or leave..unbelievable! This is a huge boundary violation. Who are they to boss people around, mark up your car with permanent marker and tell you to shut your phone off?? These people think they're the cops. They need to get over themselves. I asked if they could please not mark on my car again since the marker from months ago was STILL on my car and they said no, they had to mark on my car with permanent marker. I'm not sure why this is necessary as they don't mark your car until you're about to leave. I don't think I will be returning to this place. For whatever reason they have a prison guard mentality and seem to think it's ok to push their weight around and bully those who are just trying to feed their families..very bizarre for a food bank. Also, someone I know was planning on getting food from them on Thanksgiving and she had signed up in advance as required and had even taken the day off of work to get much needed food for her family only to be denied at the line because she couldn't find her email. She was in tears and pleaded for them to be understanding but they turned her away. This is despicable behavior for people who are in a "helping" position..it makes me wonder what their true motives are in...

This place has been awesome and was helpful but some of the staff is just out right ridiculous and a power trip distributing DONATED food. They denied me because of an incident that happened a couple weeks ago. Went as I ALWAYS did. Their was a car blocking the line of cars and I proceeded to go around it like EVERYONE else in front of me did. So because I "didn't stop" because she said so she told me to goto the back of the line even tho I just got my card and talked to her a minute before that and didn't mention anything about needing to stop. Uh no Melissa I have been here like everyone else doing what EVERYONE else is doing. But because I didn't listen I had to goto the back so I said no I'm not doing that and threw my card out the window and left. I don't know if it's because I'm native American or what but I thought this place was supposed to help the women and children no matter their race. So now because of that they're completely denying me and telling me I need to talk to Melissa. Sorry no, get off your POWER TRIP.

I've also seen melissa deny a Nigerian family man with his kids but let and old WHITE MAN in front of me get service without any kids. Weird how she can pick and choose who gets the food that's donated to the center. Supposed to help out the community not pick and choose because you don't like people of color....

Can't believe how unkind these people were. My friend needed help with groceries, she waited 1.5 hours in line, and she got a call from the state that she's been waiting for about FOODSTAMPS. They yelled at her and told her to hang up the phone or get out of line. Of course, this was an appointment she was waiting for, and you don't hang up on the government if you need help with FOOD! WHAT THIS ORGANIZATION IS SUPPOSED TO HELP PEOPLE WITH! She went to the side and the foodstamps person told her she would call her back so she could get food, then hung up and went back. When she finished, the lady took her card and told her she couldn't get food anymore!!!!!! SHE ALREADY HAD TO TAKE 2 HOURS OFF WORK FOR THIS TO HELP HER FAMILY!!!!! So she had to come back to work, in tears. DISGUSTING!!!!!!

Worst part? Their executive director is the one who did this to her. How horrible, to work for a charity and be so extremely rude to someone in need....