Meet Our Members - The Community Cupboard

Located in the quaint town of Leavenworth, the Community Cupboard serves those that need it most; those that are marginalized by high living costs and low paying jobs. It stands as a source of hope, and a location to pull the entire community together.
The Community Cupboard hosts both a food bank to help those in need, and a thrift store to provide the means for this help. The two aspects are literally touching each other, so those that support the thrift store see exactly what their help is producing. The store and bank are impressive in the way that limited space is maximized while still being kept impeccably orderly.


Bob Mark is the Program Manager there, and he finds his work to be incredibly rewarding.

When asked "What do you love most about your work here?", Bob responded:

"The community. We have a very caring community here; people care about their neighbors and the people here in town. It's fun to be a part of that. You meet a diverse group of people here and I appreciate that as well. We meet a very critical need in the community. Without this food (especially bread), people go hungry. Some volunteers have been here 10+ years because they see this value."

When asked "What is the toughest part about your work?", Bob responded:

"I'm often pulled in so many different directions, a lot of times there’s not enough time in the day to do everything I want do. I wish we had more resources to enhance and expand new programs. Having more space would be great to be able to take in bigger donations. Basically, the toughest part of my job is not getting to do more of it."

To read more about the Community Cupboard as well as its parent organization, Upper Valley MEND, visit their website: UVMend.org.