USAFV

Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence is in the midst of hosting its annual Soup-Off event. Most local events have been reformatted over the past year due to COVID-19. The Soup-Off is no exception, as it was cancelled last year, at the start of the pandemic, and is now being held virtually to accommodate public health mandates meant to curb the spread of the virus.

The coronavirus pandemic brought waves of global unemployment and food insecurity. And even now, with hope on the horizon as vaccines are beginning to roll out across the nation, Unalaskans are still in need of food assistance.

September is Suicide Prevention Awareness Month. And over the past few weeks in Unalaska, organizations like the Aleutian Pribilof Islands Association (APIA) and Unalaskans Against Sexual Assault and Family Violence (USAFV), as well as the Qawalangin Tribe, have stepped up to help spread awareness.

USAFV Director M. Lynn Crane said that at the local nonprofit, which provides a number of resources for the community, including crisis intervention, shelter, and legal advocacy—to name a few—mental health is something staff confront and think about daily.

More than six million Americans enrolled in food stamps in the first three months of the coronavirus pandemic, as people across the country lost their jobs and children transitioned to at-home learning.

The 17 percent expansion from February to May in the food stamps program — formally known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP — is the fastest growth in the program's history, according to the New York Times.