Hunger Intervention Program. 2025.

Hunger Intervention Program (HIP) is a non-profit, food assistance program in Seattle. Their mission is to increase food security for underserved populations in North King County through nutritious meals, educational programs, and advocacy. HIP operates a free Senior Meals Program on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday. Though not affiliated with any religion, the meals are prepared from the kitchen of Bethany Church, in Lake City’s residential neighborhood of Seattle. This project is about the people who make the meals for seniors and help to serve it.

Chef David Salerno oversees the food program for Senior Meals at HIP, Monday-Friday, 7am-6pm. He creates a menu that meets specific nutritional guidelines for seniors and leads a team of volunteers in its preparation. He manages the sourcing of quality and inexpensive fresh ingredients, which can be a challenging task because vendors and funding can drop out at any moment without notice. Each meal must cost no more than $1 to create.

Meals are transported to Lake City Seniors, where they are portioned onto plates with the help of AmeriCorps volunteers. In the US government’s attempt to shutter AmeriCorps, all Washington Service Corp members were laid off but have since been hired by either HIP or United Way of King County.