Groceries for Families: Week 32 - Day 1
Wet, Wet, Wet…this is more than a great English band from the 80’s. Heavy rain came down today, giving the gutter system under the carports a good test, which it passed. The shoppers took the brunt of it in the morning, braving the steady downpour to bring groceries and pantry items all morning. Thank you!!! The families had spurts of rain and a little dry, but dealt with soggy grass, too. Numbers seem to be down about 10%, which has to be due to the weather. Getting passed that, however, the day sailed smoothly along and was another great day.
BelPres Delivery
Groceries were provided by Evangelical Chinese, Victory Court, Covenant Presbyterian, Awakening, Westminster Chapel, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Creekside Covenant, Cornerstone and Crossroads Bible churches. A total of 174 orders came in and all went out to families today. Thank you to everyone who donated today.
Cornerstone Delivery
Creekside Covenant Delivery
Produce Delivery
As you may have read before, we picked up 600 food boxes on Friday simply because they were available before the gap in USDA program came this week. Perishables are stored at three local churches.
Non-perishables from all three came to Jubilee on Saturday and Monday.
Today, all the perishables were delivered from Westminster Chapel by volunteers. While the food box area was packed, it did work well. Thank you Westminster for the storage and all the volunteers from Friday, Saturday, Monday, and today.
A King County grant allowed the purchase of fresh produce from King County farms yesterday and today. Yesterday was specifically for senior citizens in the community. Cascadia produce delivered in the morning yesterday red beets, golden beets, spinach, kale, and butternut squash. About 20 seniors came in the afternoon and we delivered produce today to about eight more. It was very popular! Another load of fresh produce was delivered this morning which is for families for the next three days. Items included cabbage, butternut squash, acorn squash, Brussel sprouts, peppers, and cilantro. Families loved the fresh produce today. Thank you King County, Cascadia Produce, and all farmers.
A crew from Westminster Chapel Church volunteered this morning from 9am-12pm. They brought in all the groceries, packed all the food boxes and did many tasks to get the program ready for the afternoon. Thank you crew!
Lunch was delivered today to 25 seniors in the community by Barb, Theresa, and Gina. Fresh produce went to 8 of them. Thank you all!
Crossroads Bible Church sent a team of volunteers to the Jubilee warehouse this morning. The warehouse is moving locations so needs lots of hands right now. Thank you crew!
CBC Volunteers
Neighborhood Drive
Monday, a delivery was made by a neighborhood in Bellevue which did a fun food drive on Halloween night. Families hid non-perishable food in their yards for kids to find. Kids could then redeem them for candy at a specific neighborhood house. All the food was donated to the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Thank you, Parris family and the whole neighborhood.
Monday, a delivery of pantry items and non-perishables was delivered by Bellevue Pres. They did a drive last Friday with the young kids and families. All were donated to the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Thank you all who participated!
BelPres Drive Delivery
Carport Building
Three carports were donated last month, which were featured in this email. One reader noticed in a picture there were still families uncovered, so donated two more carports. They arrived today about 12:00pm. With the rain coming down, the PM crew quickly assembled both carports and added them to the grass area. This covered everyone for the first time!!! The grass now has a covered area 100’ x 10’. Thank you so much! What a joy today to see people dry.
An email from a senior receiving lunch and produce today:
“Thank you, Thank You, THANK YOU!!! The terrific Tuesday Lunch arrived as expected at the usual time and it is always an adventure in :) Snackish Exploration. ha ha ha Additionally I always make a point of pausing for a moment of silent appreciation of prayerful "THANKS" as taught in Meeting at the Society of Friends. It feels good to appreciate/acknowledge that someone made this lunch, and sent it my way. And Thanks, the spinach looks great, will let me mix fresh smoothies.”
A story about a family today:
In line today a man came to Ken to express his thanks and say goodbye. He has been in the program since early summer and has now secured a job in Fremont, CA as a Nurse Technician. So, today is his last day. He was very emotional expressing his gratitude for the support received through this program. He is originally from India and fled persecution as a Muslim business owner four years ago, leaving his wife and four kids. They are safe, but he would have been killed. He received asylum in the US and expected his family to join him this year. With the pandemic, everything is shut down. While he does a daily video call, he hasn’t seen his family since 2016. He is a skilled worker and is excited to have this new job. We embraced and said goodbye. Please join us in prayer as we send him to this new chapter. Such a great story.
We begin this week 10 of version 2 of the ‘Groceries for Families’ program with 649 families being served, representing about 3,000 people. There were 27 new families added last week. A total of 30 families have been removed from the program in V2. A total of 51 families are on a ‘watch list’ for attendance.
Today’s PM Crew
Thanks for another great day. Darkness came early this afternoon, but the lights under the canopies provided a strong beacon of brightness to the dark. So do you!
Have a great evening,
Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
