What We're All About
And A Bit About Us...
Who We Are
We would be nothing without the countless supporters, volunteers, and donors that enable us to serve.
People are amazing!
Every organization, large or small is nothing without the collective effort of people who continue to show up and do the work towards a greater goal. We are ever humbled and grateful to have an amazing team of volunteers, donors, and community partners that enable us to serve our communities. We draw strength and inspiration from their efforts and support.
While we could never begin to list every person, business, or organization who’s tall shoulders we stand upon, we make an effort to recognize a select few of them here. If you’ve ever been to one of our public feedings or events, these might be some familiar faces.
Cascadia Cares
Kat Thompson
Free Hot Pizza
Amie-Jo Brassfield
Belly Brigade
Karen
Ames
Gary
Hanna
Emily
Von Flotow
Linsey
Sinner
Meta
Hogan
Deston Danziel
Finlaystoun
Our Community Partners
They Support Us, So We Can Support You!
We try to do a lot with a little…
Unlike large scale non-profits with headquarters, warehouses, and a national network, Cascadia Cares has no dedicated facility. This helps up keep our overhead low and allows us to use any financial donations we acquire to be utilized efficiently in our goal to help our community.
Our Community Partners provide us with donations of goods, services, and use of their facilities for which we are ever grateful. Some of these partners allow us to collaborate with them in their commercial kitchen to prepare hot meals, while others have dedicated space at their retail location to serve as a modest food pantry or to host our events. Of course we also depend on all of the local business that provide us with donations of food and other items for us to distribute to local residents regardless of need.
Be sure to show them some love!
Besides being one of the coolest bookstores, Shakespeare & Co. collaborates with us to cook up hot meals for us to distribute for free. We highly recommend you stop by their store to enjoy delicious meals and books that nourish your intellect!
It seems that during the pandemic days everyone got into making sourdough, but Kalama Sourdough Bakery are masters at it. They’re the reason our Free Hot Pizza is better than some restaurants! You can find their products sold all over Washington.
Nature Nurture Farmacy believes that food is the foundation of our health. They are dedicated to building community health through the use of herbal medicine, sustainable food cultivation and empowering education Cascadia Cares has partnered with them to become a dedicated food pick up point,
What We Do
More Like What Won't We Do...
When Cascadia Cares was started it was from a simple understanding that many people in our community were struggling at times and we wanted to make a difference.
It seemed like one of the clearest ways to help those around us was to start with the basics. So we began by offering free food whenever and wherever we could. At first it wasn’t clear how long we could sustain this effort, but that didn’t matter as much as the chance to do something good for no other reason than it was the right thing to do.
Much to our joy, others noticed our efforts and offered to support our goals. We received donated goods like warm clothes, flashlights, basic toiletries, and food to distribute for free to anyone that needed it with no questions asked.
We kept the basic idea of “Humans Helping Humans” intentionally vague as to not be defined or branded by any narrow scope of help that we could provide. We continue to welcome new ways to serve our community with donations and collaborations that align with our overall principles.
When life hands you a box of lemons, open a free lemonade stand!
— Our Mission
Cascadia Cares is a non-profit organization whose mission is to connect needs and resources to people. We are Humans Helping Humans.
— Our Vision
Since our inception in 2015, our larger vision has been to see a world where our services are no longer needed. That said, with a growing wealth divide and increasing food deserts it seems as though this work will not come to an end in our lifetimes. Perhaps some day people will live in harmony with the land and not horde more resources than they could ever use. Until then, we will continue doing what we can to be the change we wish to see in the world.
— Our Story
Cascadia Cares founder, Kat Thompson grew up in Midwest until 2001 when she left to see more of the world. After experiencing the counter culture lifestyle of The Rainbow Family Of Living Light, she was inspired to give things away freely to those that needed them.
While attending Evergreen College in 2015, Kat formed the beginnings of Cascadia Cares with her dear friend Charles Nesmith.
After graduating from Evergreen in 2017, she continued to grow the organization while completing a Masters in Social Work and simultaneously working as a counselor at a non-profit community health center specializing in helping people experiencing acute mental health crises.
Now with a Masters under her belt, her pursuits have blossomed many times over. Although Charles passed away in 2021, Kat, along with an amazing team of other humans, continues to dedicate themselves tirelessly towards creating a better world through efforts large and small.