Groceries for Families: Week 30 - Day 2

Oct 21

The early morning seemed to lull us into believing the weather today would be mild, at worst. Then the storm which blew through Bellevue in the mid-morning hit us hard. Within a quick time, the sky got dark, hail came down, thunder and lightning, and lots of rain. The shoppers had to deal with it all morning. Fortunately, the storm moved on by the late morning and gave way to a calm afternoon. Lots of families came today and, other than wet grass, had an easy day. The operation was smooth and very enjoyable.

Groceries today came from Bellevue Christian Reformed, 24-Seven, St. Louise, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, Newport Covenant, and Calvary Chapel Eastside churches, as well as Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, Rotary Club of Bellevue, and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 206 orders came in today (WOW!) and all but 9 went out to families today. Thank you for the participation and for the extra groceries which came today.

Sysco came about 9:00am with a truckload of perishable foods.

We receive 3 pallets of produce boxes, 1 pallet of milk, 1 pallet of dairy, and 1 pallet of frozen chicken each day.

There is a good system down for the placement of the pallets now.

A family (one of you!) donated produce through Oxbow Farm, which came today to deliver in the rain.

We received beautiful butternut squash and washed beets. We decided to hold these back for the second half of the day, so the later families could enjoy them.

When they came out to the market, people were very happy. Thank you, sweet family, for this gift!

Gill and Libby, pictured to the right, are volunteers who deliver donated food from the QFC Crossroads each day.

They are special people who have a heart for helping people get food. Today, their vehicle was stuffed as full as we’ve ever seen it.

About 20 crates of half-gallon milk was a rare treat in the order, which was a welcome sight to families who crave milk.

Along with the produce, bakery, and meats, this all added a lot to the market today. Thank you both for your faithful service!

Cascadia Produce in Auburn has become a nice partner recently and late yesterday offered to donate pallets of fresh corn. How could that be passed up!?

The Jubilee REACH truck was at their warehouse this morning, where Cascadia also offered a pallet of fresh, lovely grapefruit. How fun to have these two fun items in the market today! After the operation today, we texted all of yesterday’s families to come and get milk, corn, and grapefruit from 3:30-4:30pm. About 40 families came. The remaining items will go out to families tomorrow. Thank you, Jeremy and Jill, at Cascadia!

Volunteers ran the morning shift from 9am-12pm again today. It was great! They greeted all the shoppers and kept the groceries organized, which is not an easy task. They packed all the food boxes. They also portioned out many dozen of donated doughnuts, delivered by volunteers this morning, into ziplock bags for the market. Thank you crew!

The afternoon crew of Jubilee Site Coaches are such a blessing to serve with. They not only know this operation well, but are so loving and caring to the families. To know their day-jobs are loving and caring for Bellevue public school children shows the true gifts and talents they have. Thank you all!

A quick story:

You’ve read most weeks how one of the families brings lunch to the crew on Tuesdays. The lady came yesterday with a pot of homemade sausage meatball vegetable soup. She shared that everything in the soup had come to her through Jubilee. How fun is that! We had it for lunch today and, let us attest, that lady can cook! She regularly shows love through her cooking. Lucky us!

An email from a family today:

“I want to say thank you for all the donors and sponsors of the food program. I don’t work since March because my workplace closed. My mom got some underlying conditions and my husband is 70. I have to care of everybody in my family. Second this program helps me a lot. My siblings are counting on me too. I would like to thank all the volunteers too for giving all their time and effort for this program. So grateful for all the people with their continued support . Again I'm grateful for all the help. “

Some of you have been asking what we’re doing for the families at Halloween. On Friday, October 30 we are inviting all the families to bring their children to Jubilee REACH from 4-6pm for ‘Trunk & Treat’. The Jubilee staff will be decorating the back end of their cars in the parking lot and handing out candy in costume. Families will be let in on a staggered basis to keep distancing appropriate. It will be a lot of fun! We’re asking shoppers if they would kindly send bags of store-bought candy with their groceries next week. We will use it all on Friday. Thank you.

Thanks for another great day. Sorry that this entry was so long. There was a lot going on here today! 😊

Have a great evening,

Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Jubilee REACH Communications

Groceries for Families: Week 30 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 30 - Day 3

Groceries for Families: Week 30 - Day 1