What We Do
GSFTA GIVES BACK is committed to providing hot meals and making basic resources accessible to the homeless youth in the Greater Spokane area. We strategically partner with local non-profits because we believe the key to community development is collaboration. Together, we know it is possible to give our homeless youth a chance at a better and more sustainable future.
Spokane food trucks feed both GU students and homeless students
Riley Utley | Aug 28, 2019
During the first and last two months of the school year, students, faculty and staff have the opportunity to try out a variety of new and interesting food through the food trucks that grace campus every Wednesday.
The food served ranges from classic burgers to crepes to island food and everything in between. This partnership between Gonzaga and the Greater Spokane Food Truck Association (GSFTA) began when Tony Epefanio, president of GSFTA and owner of the food truck, Mixed Plate, reached out to the university a few years ago. |
"Gonzaga wanted to have checks and balances with us so I worked with them and our food truck association and everybody who’s on our website is vetted so they can feel confident that they are insured and have proper mobile food permits," Epefanio said. "I was working on that for a long time from pulling the permits to now."
Since 2018 trucks have been taking turns outside College Hall on a rotating schedule that Epefanio makes. While not all food trucks within GSFTA come to campus, the variety grows every semester.
In the upcoming semester there will be a few new trucks on campus such as The Farmer’s Daughter as well as the old favorites like, Mixed Plate, Skewers, and CRATE.
Epefanio said the food trucks love coming to campus — it offers them the opportunity to serve a community that might not be able to follow them otherwise.
"[We love] the energy," said Eric Johnsen, owner and chef of CRATE, in an email. "The students and staff bring an energy you just don’t have at the other venues, especially for a lunch service."
Epefanio said that these trucks give students the opportunity to try food they might not be able to access easily in Spokane.
"A lot of students who come to Gonzaga are from Seattle and California and they’re used to having different kinds of food and food trucks," Epefanio said. "We thank Gonzaga for working with us and allowing our association to come on to campus so we can bring this to the students."
Between Mixed Plate’s island and Asian food, CRATE’s globally inspired menu (which includes Thai, Cuban, Italian and Tex-Mex) as well as authentic Mediterranean food from Skewers, students can get food inspired by the world and break out of the Spokane food bubble.
All the food trucks that come on to campus accept Bulldog Bucks. It acts as the main point of sale for the trucks, specifically when they go on to a campus.
"For our lunches we do accept Bulldog Bucks," Epefanio said. "Those are the majority of our sales, like 70% of our sales are through Bulldog Bucks."
The trucks are eager to get back on campus and feed students again. Johnsen said he wishes they could be scheduled more frequently on campus because they love serving students so much.
What some may not realize about these trucks is how much work they do for the community.
This summer Epefanio started a pilot program to feed homeless students. This began after Epefanio attended a roundtable event where he discovered that there are 800 homeless students in Spokane Valley alone. Immediately after hearing this, he knew he wanted to do something to help these kids.
"What we did was start a little pilot program," Epefanio said. "There are 59 students from the Valley in middle and high school who are homeless. I called Spokane Valley Partners because they have a program called Food for Thought and during the school year they send food home with the kids. But, there’s nothing during the summer."
"We put signs in our trucks that say ‘Buy a meal, feed our youth’ to show we’re participating in this," Epefanio said. "We gave all these kids punch cards with 55 punches on them so that’s five meals a week for the 11 weeks of summer."
Through this program kids can get meals for one punch at any of the GSFTA food trucks and free desserts. However, one problem they had was getting the kids to the food trucks.
This is where recent GU graduate Rick Clark comes in. Epefanio partnered with Clark’s organization Giving Backpacks to get bus passes for the students so they could get to the food.
"I was a starving student in high school. I remember being so hungry in school and I ended up dropping out," Clark said. "That food element is huge."
This program was implemented over the summer and Epifanio along with the GSFTA hopes it will grow in the coming years.
"I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to have to deal with homelessness, school and not knowing where your next meal will come from," Johnsen said. "We’re just a small part of a lot of good people coming together to try and make a difference."
The owners of these food trucks love their work and their community and ultimately just want to make Spokane an even better place to live.
"Bottom line is that this is how we make our living and we’re just trying to make a great life and serve great food," Epefanio said. "One of the greatest things is when people come back and they’re just so happy. It’s so rewarding."
In the upcoming semester there will be a few new trucks on campus such as The Farmer’s Daughter as well as the old favorites like, Mixed Plate, Skewers, and CRATE.
Epefanio said the food trucks love coming to campus — it offers them the opportunity to serve a community that might not be able to follow them otherwise.
"[We love] the energy," said Eric Johnsen, owner and chef of CRATE, in an email. "The students and staff bring an energy you just don’t have at the other venues, especially for a lunch service."
Epefanio said that these trucks give students the opportunity to try food they might not be able to access easily in Spokane.
"A lot of students who come to Gonzaga are from Seattle and California and they’re used to having different kinds of food and food trucks," Epefanio said. "We thank Gonzaga for working with us and allowing our association to come on to campus so we can bring this to the students."
Between Mixed Plate’s island and Asian food, CRATE’s globally inspired menu (which includes Thai, Cuban, Italian and Tex-Mex) as well as authentic Mediterranean food from Skewers, students can get food inspired by the world and break out of the Spokane food bubble.
All the food trucks that come on to campus accept Bulldog Bucks. It acts as the main point of sale for the trucks, specifically when they go on to a campus.
"For our lunches we do accept Bulldog Bucks," Epefanio said. "Those are the majority of our sales, like 70% of our sales are through Bulldog Bucks."
The trucks are eager to get back on campus and feed students again. Johnsen said he wishes they could be scheduled more frequently on campus because they love serving students so much.
What some may not realize about these trucks is how much work they do for the community.
This summer Epefanio started a pilot program to feed homeless students. This began after Epefanio attended a roundtable event where he discovered that there are 800 homeless students in Spokane Valley alone. Immediately after hearing this, he knew he wanted to do something to help these kids.
"What we did was start a little pilot program," Epefanio said. "There are 59 students from the Valley in middle and high school who are homeless. I called Spokane Valley Partners because they have a program called Food for Thought and during the school year they send food home with the kids. But, there’s nothing during the summer."
"We put signs in our trucks that say ‘Buy a meal, feed our youth’ to show we’re participating in this," Epefanio said. "We gave all these kids punch cards with 55 punches on them so that’s five meals a week for the 11 weeks of summer."
Through this program kids can get meals for one punch at any of the GSFTA food trucks and free desserts. However, one problem they had was getting the kids to the food trucks.
This is where recent GU graduate Rick Clark comes in. Epefanio partnered with Clark’s organization Giving Backpacks to get bus passes for the students so they could get to the food.
"I was a starving student in high school. I remember being so hungry in school and I ended up dropping out," Clark said. "That food element is huge."
This program was implemented over the summer and Epifanio along with the GSFTA hopes it will grow in the coming years.
"I can’t even imagine how hard it must be to have to deal with homelessness, school and not knowing where your next meal will come from," Johnsen said. "We’re just a small part of a lot of good people coming together to try and make a difference."
The owners of these food trucks love their work and their community and ultimately just want to make Spokane an even better place to live.
"Bottom line is that this is how we make our living and we’re just trying to make a great life and serve great food," Epefanio said. "One of the greatest things is when people come back and they’re just so happy. It’s so rewarding."
Summer meals: Spokane food trucks feed homeless teens
Treva Lind | July 26, 2019
A few months ago, school leaders heard from Spokane Valley homeless teens who were worried about finding regular meals this summer.
That’s changed under an alliance of food truck owners. A new program gives free meals to 58 homeless students who use punch cards for food at the trucks during the 11-week break.
Each student can receive five hot meals a week, or 55 total, during the summer. Schools identified an at-risk group of mostly high school students who lack family support. Among the youth, 45 received bus passes to go where the vendors are located.
“This started right when they got out of school,” said Tony Epefanio, owner of Mixed Plate Food Truck & Catering and president of a food truck association. Epefanio has heard teens are regularly using their punch cards, and he plans to get an official count by the season’s end.
“How awesome would it be if we don’t hear about any kids going hungry this summer?”
The students can use the punch cards at any of more than 30 participating food trucks.
That’s changed under an alliance of food truck owners. A new program gives free meals to 58 homeless students who use punch cards for food at the trucks during the 11-week break.
Each student can receive five hot meals a week, or 55 total, during the summer. Schools identified an at-risk group of mostly high school students who lack family support. Among the youth, 45 received bus passes to go where the vendors are located.
“This started right when they got out of school,” said Tony Epefanio, owner of Mixed Plate Food Truck & Catering and president of a food truck association. Epefanio has heard teens are regularly using their punch cards, and he plans to get an official count by the season’s end.
“How awesome would it be if we don’t hear about any kids going hungry this summer?”
The students can use the punch cards at any of more than 30 participating food trucks.
Spokane Valley Partners and the Greater Spokane Food Truck Association Gives Back nonprofit worked with schools to launch an extension of Spokane Valley Partner’s school-year food program.
The collaboration also includes Giving Back Packs, a Spokane nonprofit that provides supplies to the homeless. The group paid for the 45 bus passes from Spokane Transit Authority to cover summer rides for those teens with transportation issues.
Spokane Valley Partners created punch cards and instructions. Students can look up trucks locations.
Cal Coblentz, Spokane Valley Partners CEO, said the agency puts food into schools during the academic year for needy students to take home on weekends. The agency also stocks food pantries in some schools. Its Food for Thought serves 22 schools and about 500 students during the school year.
But that stops when school does. Around April, school leaders shared with the agency what homeless students were telling them.
“The schools came to us and said some of these students are starting to panic a little bit,” Coblentz said. “During the school year, they get a student bus pass. They get meals on weekends. They get their meals in the school with breakfast and lunch, so at least their basic needs are met.
“As soon as they’re out of school, then all those resources go away. For some of these students, it’s critical because we have identified over 50 teenagers who are legitimately homeless in the Valley with no family or who are separated from families, just out on their own on the streets or surfing couches.”
He said this summer extension of Food for Thought is a trial to see how it works. It was organized quickly with the help of the nonprofits and business owners. Spokane Valley Partners didn’t have a summer food program budget other than food provided to about 150 students in summer school.
The agency encourages the homeless teens it works with to get the free summer meals at Spokane County schools offering breakfasts and lunches for youth, but that program doesn’t take care of an evening meal, Coblentz said.
Food trucks are most active in the summer, and members of its association were looking for a way to give back to the community, Epefanio said. He heard about the homeless teens at a roundtable of nonprofits.
A social worker connected Epefanio to Spokane Valley Partners. He also contacted his friend Rick Clark, founder of Giving Back Packs.
“For the 11 weeks they’re out of school, the kids can get to us, and they have bus passes,” Epefanio said. “What value are hot meals if they can’t get to us? I’ve spoken to some of the students, and they’re very appreciative.
“As a pilot program, if we can get some traction on it, we hope to scale it up next year with the support of other organizations. There is no way kids shouldn’t have food, especially if they don’t have a place to lay their heads.”
Food truck owners are donating the cost of a meal, typically priced at $10 or $11. They aren’t receiving a subsidy, Epefanio said.
Association members post signs on food trucks about the program for feeding youth, he said.
Pizza Rita gave 300 vouchers for pizza, and two dessert trucks are offering treats that don’t count against the teens’ punch card meals. Additionally, three businesses with food trucks and restaurants allow the youth to choose either option.
Epefanio said a number of the teens received meals from food trucks during Hoopfest. Other popular sites are the Spokane Valley Farmers Market and events in Kendall Yards.
“By coming to food trucks, they’re feeling like they are part of the community,” Epefanio said. “They can enjoy a meal and an outing.”
Coblentz said he’s already talking to community and business leaders about what to do for upcoming years if the pilot works. Also this summer, the agency is packing bags with two- to three-day food supplies for pickup by teens at places such as libraries and Arby’s locations.
“These are kind of baby steps for us,” he said. “Tony stepped up big time, and the other food truck association membership did, as well, by being willing to give meals away.
“Most of the monetary contribution comes from the food truck association because it’s probably close to $30,000 worth of food that they’re giving away to kids this summer.”
The pilot project is helping the agency get over a hurdle because it normally relies on schools to distribute necessities to kids who are low-income or homeless, Coblentz added. Food truck owners stepped in to meet a need in more ways than one.
“This gives the kids the ability to go to an event and not feel like there is this huge barrier.”
Although the 58 students are mainly in two alternative high schools, Mica Peak and Dishman Hills, a handful are scattered elsewhere in Spokane Valley, and a few are in middle school, he said.
“At least we know they’re eating, and there’s the transportation piece.
“When Giving Back Packs stepped in for that, it was a huge boost. For a lot of these kids, they’ve had a lot of trauma; they’re in counseling and need support systems in place. Without transportation, it’s difficult for them to even make their counseling appointments. This has helped them stay connected.”
When the punch cards were distributed, organizers urged them to keep them close at hand.
“Those are very valuable,” Coblentz said. “We told the kids don’t lose these because they’re like cash; it’s the same with bus passes.”
Spokane Valley Partners created punch cards and instructions. Students can look up trucks locations.
Cal Coblentz, Spokane Valley Partners CEO, said the agency puts food into schools during the academic year for needy students to take home on weekends. The agency also stocks food pantries in some schools. Its Food for Thought serves 22 schools and about 500 students during the school year.
But that stops when school does. Around April, school leaders shared with the agency what homeless students were telling them.
“The schools came to us and said some of these students are starting to panic a little bit,” Coblentz said. “During the school year, they get a student bus pass. They get meals on weekends. They get their meals in the school with breakfast and lunch, so at least their basic needs are met.
“As soon as they’re out of school, then all those resources go away. For some of these students, it’s critical because we have identified over 50 teenagers who are legitimately homeless in the Valley with no family or who are separated from families, just out on their own on the streets or surfing couches.”
He said this summer extension of Food for Thought is a trial to see how it works. It was organized quickly with the help of the nonprofits and business owners. Spokane Valley Partners didn’t have a summer food program budget other than food provided to about 150 students in summer school.
The agency encourages the homeless teens it works with to get the free summer meals at Spokane County schools offering breakfasts and lunches for youth, but that program doesn’t take care of an evening meal, Coblentz said.
Food trucks are most active in the summer, and members of its association were looking for a way to give back to the community, Epefanio said. He heard about the homeless teens at a roundtable of nonprofits.
A social worker connected Epefanio to Spokane Valley Partners. He also contacted his friend Rick Clark, founder of Giving Back Packs.
“For the 11 weeks they’re out of school, the kids can get to us, and they have bus passes,” Epefanio said. “What value are hot meals if they can’t get to us? I’ve spoken to some of the students, and they’re very appreciative.
“As a pilot program, if we can get some traction on it, we hope to scale it up next year with the support of other organizations. There is no way kids shouldn’t have food, especially if they don’t have a place to lay their heads.”
Food truck owners are donating the cost of a meal, typically priced at $10 or $11. They aren’t receiving a subsidy, Epefanio said.
Association members post signs on food trucks about the program for feeding youth, he said.
Pizza Rita gave 300 vouchers for pizza, and two dessert trucks are offering treats that don’t count against the teens’ punch card meals. Additionally, three businesses with food trucks and restaurants allow the youth to choose either option.
Epefanio said a number of the teens received meals from food trucks during Hoopfest. Other popular sites are the Spokane Valley Farmers Market and events in Kendall Yards.
“By coming to food trucks, they’re feeling like they are part of the community,” Epefanio said. “They can enjoy a meal and an outing.”
Coblentz said he’s already talking to community and business leaders about what to do for upcoming years if the pilot works. Also this summer, the agency is packing bags with two- to three-day food supplies for pickup by teens at places such as libraries and Arby’s locations.
“These are kind of baby steps for us,” he said. “Tony stepped up big time, and the other food truck association membership did, as well, by being willing to give meals away.
“Most of the monetary contribution comes from the food truck association because it’s probably close to $30,000 worth of food that they’re giving away to kids this summer.”
The pilot project is helping the agency get over a hurdle because it normally relies on schools to distribute necessities to kids who are low-income or homeless, Coblentz added. Food truck owners stepped in to meet a need in more ways than one.
“This gives the kids the ability to go to an event and not feel like there is this huge barrier.”
Although the 58 students are mainly in two alternative high schools, Mica Peak and Dishman Hills, a handful are scattered elsewhere in Spokane Valley, and a few are in middle school, he said.
“At least we know they’re eating, and there’s the transportation piece.
“When Giving Back Packs stepped in for that, it was a huge boost. For a lot of these kids, they’ve had a lot of trauma; they’re in counseling and need support systems in place. Without transportation, it’s difficult for them to even make their counseling appointments. This has helped them stay connected.”
When the punch cards were distributed, organizers urged them to keep them close at hand.
“Those are very valuable,” Coblentz said. “We told the kids don’t lose these because they’re like cash; it’s the same with bus passes.”