BASH: Three Generations of Caring
If friendship and family are the hallmarks of a well-lived life, the BASH food bank team should inspire us all. At a time when our national dialogue is sadly and dangerously divided, the team here is showing us that being of service to others can bring us back together.
BASH, or Bikers Against Statewide Hunger, was founded back in 1997 when the owner of a local motorcycle repair business began having fellow bikers from all over the country stopping in for more than a fresh set of spark plugs. They were looking for help with groceries. Determined to help his nomadic brothers and sisters, he set up a food tent behind his shop. Bikers could drop in whenever they needed food or donate to others who needed help. The owner, simply known as “Ed”, had planted the seed for a co-op to help feed his brothers and sisters long after he was gone.
In those early days, a friend of Ed’s named Bob Houk began volunteering at this makeshift food exchange. Within a couple of years, Bob and Ed created a non-profit and named it BASH. Bob may not have known it then, but not only was he creating an important service operation for his community, but he was also building a legacy that would eventually feature three generations of his family.
Twenty-five years later, BASH is operating out of a long, narrow warehouse space in the Parkland neighborhood of Tacoma, providing healthy and nutritious food to more than 2,500 people weekly. While Bob is the President of BASH, the operations are managed by his daughter, Rebecca Neal.
“I’ve been here for twenty-two years now,” says Rebecca.
Today, Rebecca’s children have joined the team and volunteer every week. But she says that’s only natural.
“My kids grew up here. They learned to walk here.”
And it’s not just family, it’s friends as well. Rebecca met John Nalls ten years ago while the two worked at an operation serving unhoused neighbors. Years later, at the height of the pandemic, Good Shepherd was distributing food, and John and his partner Louis would bring their surplus food to the BASH food bank. Good Shepherd eventually closed their food distribution in 2023, but John never left. He volunteers with BASH two days every week.
“It’s like family here,” says John. “And that Rebecca, well, I just love coming here and seeing her,” he says in a brotherly tease with Rebecca within earshot.
While they keep a good sense of humor, the work is real. According to the BASH team, visits to their food bank are climbing dramatically.
“We see the numbers going up weekly,” says John. “A lot of first-time visitors. People are being laid off. A lot of people with different things going on, and they know we’re here to help.”
Visitors to BASH receive between two and four boxes of food weekly. These boxes contain fruits, vegetables, pantry staples, dairy items, and proteins, mostly supplied by Food Lifeline’s weekly food delivery. Rebecca says these deliveries are critical to serving their guests.
“If we didn’t have this food, we couldn’t be feeding these people like we do. We’d have to cut back.”
And that would mean less food for one particularly vulnerable segment of the population.
“The cost of food is really hard on people, especially seniors. Some seniors tell me they receive $7.00 a month in SNAP benefits. That barely buys a gallon of milk or a dozen eggs.”
BASH delivers to the Tacoma Housing Authority and local senior centers every Monday to serve seniors. Seniors call in their orders to BASH weekly, and the volunteer team builds food boxes for them. According to Rebecca, many guests make tough choices between paying bills and buying food.
“They have to choose. They shouldn’t have to, but they do.”
Today’s food distribution is running like clockwork. The production line starts at the back of the warehouse, where food comes off the trucks and into the sorting area. There, John is building produce boxes that will be passed up the line to Rebecca, who will add pantry items and dairy. From there, Bob adds some snack chips and bags of pasta. From there, another volunteer loads the boxes on a roller stand and sends them to the front desk, where another volunteer helps load the boxes into guests’ cars. It’s a high-energy dance in a narrow space that requires a lot of cooperation, energy, and at least a little humor.
“John’s a little slow today,” teases Rebecca. “But that’s just John.”
“I love you, Rebecca,” John shouts from the rear.
Today, the team will wrap up knowing they’ve made a difference again. In a rare quiet moment. Bob reflects on what this food bank has meant to him.
“These aren’t just a dozen volunteers; these are a dozen people I’ve been friends with for over twenty years. They’re family.”
The BASH Food Bank team is working together, showing kindness, and making a difference for many in their community. It may be decades since Ed raised that first tent, but today, three generations carry his message by showing up for their friends, family, and neighbors.
And that’s a life well-lived.