{"id":1965,"date":"2021-02-25T16:17:40","date_gmt":"2021-02-26T00:17:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/?p=1965"},"modified":"2026-08-30T22:20:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-31T05:20:34","slug":"three-square","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/three-square\/","title":{"rendered":"Three Square"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Chic<\/span><\/div>
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This article was printed in<\/em>
\nChic Compass Magazine - Issue 7<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Three<\/span><\/div><\/div>
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Three Square: Serving Up Gratitude, One Meal at a Time<\/h1>\n

BY STACEY GUALANDI<\/p>\n<\/div>

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Early in the pandemic, a Las Vegas woman who lost her job could no longer afford to buy food, so she turned to a Three Square food distribution center for help.<\/p>\n

A few months later, she returned with a $45 donation and told the receptionist, \u201cI am doing better now. I just wanted to pay it forward and give thanks for the support.\u201d<\/p>\n

She isn\u2019t alone, thanks to the work of Three Square, the only food bank serving four Southern Nevada counties. Director of Development, Kate Hibbard Gaines says there are thousands of people just like this woman getting the assistance they need.<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Kate<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Kate Hibbard Gaines<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\u201cFirst and foremost, there\u2019s always a lot of gratitude once [people] know that there\u2019s a resource that\u2019s available and that someone\u2019s got their back,\u201d said Hibbard Gaines. \u201cI think what\u2019s been most shocking is that in 2020, we had more people reaching out to utilize the services and resources that we provide, probably for their first time in their lives.\u201d<\/p>\n

Before COVID-19, there were more than 272,000 people in this community who were food insecure. Now, it\u2019s nearly doubled.<\/p>\n

Last summer alone, Three Square distributed 6 million pounds of food\u2014the highest volume in the organization\u2019s history. According to the charity, Southern Nevada is currently in the grip of a hunger surge unlike anything seen since the Great Depression. Feeding America said, \u201cLas Vegas has the worst hunger problem in the country.\u201d<\/p>\n

But Hibbard Gaines insists while the work and cost are daunting, Three Square continues to meet these new challenges head-on with the support of donations and their community partners.<\/p>\n

\u201cAn individual or a family at any time can face food insecurity for any reason, and that\u2019s something that we know and accept,\u201d she said. \u201cBut whether it\u2019s the great recession, October 1st mass shooting, or this pandemic, this town rallies around its community to make sure that folks have basic needs. Food is the most basic of needs.\u201d<\/p>\n

When Three Square launched in 2007, it had one mission: To provide wholesome food to hungry people while passionately pursuing a hunger-free community. Its first year in operation provided over 10 million pounds of food to Southern Nevada residents, a ten-fold increase over a former county food bank.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are essentially the hub that sources in food, and then we push it out to a network of other nonprofit partners who get it to the people who need it most,\u201d said Hibbard Gaines.<\/p>\n

In 2013, this east coast transplant hoped to continue her work in the nonprofit sector when she moved to Las Vegas. \u201cIt was important to me that I found a job that helped people, and I feel like I found that, day in and day out.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Photo<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photo courtesy of Jeff Scheid<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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As Director of Development, Hibbard Gaines matches agencies that provide aid to those who desperately need it. Since its inception, Three Square has stretched to the community\u2019s demands with a strong volunteer base and a number of innovative programs geared toward children and seniors\u2014one of the most vulnerable and underreported groups.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe were positioned heading into 2020 to be one of the first major cities to meet the meal gap of approximately 48 million meals,\u201d Hibbard Gaines said. \u201cBut then the pandemic struck.\u201d<\/p>\n

The meal gap quickly increased as food insecurity rates skyrocketed from 12 percent to now just over 20 percent, or nearly 440,000 individuals in Southern Nevada. One in 5 is now food-insecure, up from 1 in 8 pre-COVID.<\/p>\n

While uncharted territory, Three Square immediately rolled out an emergency relief plan. It increased food distribution by 250,000 meals per week and became a frontline distributor through drive-through distributions and select walk-in pantries.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur distributions would begin at 7 or 8 in the morning, but cars began lining up hours before,\u201d Hibbard Gaines said. \u201cI think it just speaks to the need and the sacrifices that people were willing to make to have food for their family.\u201d<\/p>\n

Three Square also opened an expanded food warehouse bought before the pandemic to store more fresh food at temperature-controlled rates and to serve more seniors, both essential components of the emergency plan. \u201cI\u2019m not sure that any of us anticipated that come January 2021, we would still be implementing this emergency relief plan, but we anticipate that we will be sustaining that for some time to come,\u201d Hibbard Gaines said. \u201cUntil the economy begins to rebound and folks can get back on their feet and back to work, we will continue to do what we need to do.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the months ahead, Three Square plans to expand its partnerships; break down barriers to food access in vulnerable populations; and will keep working with the Clark County school district to safely distribute meals to food-insecure students through modified versions of its childhood nutrition programs.<\/p>\n

Right now, times remain tough for many. But if you or someone you know is going hungry, Hibbard Gaines says their website will provide the help you need in a dignified manner. That\u2019s why Three Square believes together\u2026we CAN feed everyone.<\/p>\n

\u201cWhile we would love to put ourselves out of business, that\u2019s never going to be a reality,\u201d she admits. \u201cHopefully, those times that are tough are only temporary, but whether you need Three Square once or multiple times, we\u2019ll be there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Every $1 helps provide 3 square meals. To learn more about how you can help and get help, please visit threesquare.org<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>

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\"Photo<\/span><\/div><\/div>

Photo courtesy of Three Square<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div><\/div>

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When Three Square launched in 2007, it had one mission: To provide wholesome food to hungry people while passionately pursuing a hunger-free community. Its first year in operation provided over 10 million pounds of food to Southern Nevada residents, a ten-fold increase over a former county food bank.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1967,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"nf_dc_page":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[4522,3268],"tags":[3158,3301,3302,3300,267,3303,2816,3128,3299,3156],"class_list":["post-1965","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-arts-and-culture","category-issue-7","tag-charity","tag-donation","tag-food-bank","tag-kate-hibbard-gaines","tag-las-vegas","tag-meal","tag-nevada","tag-stacey-gualandi","tag-three-square","tag-volunteer"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1965"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":11427,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1965\/revisions\/11427"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/1967"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1965"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1965"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/chiccompass.com\/wordpress\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1965"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}