December 10, 2020

The last day of operation this week ends on a good note, with lots of happy people. The pace of families coming today was slower than normal, but by the end, all the food was passed out. It almost lulled us to sleep, yet the result was the same. Strange. The morning was a nice pace of people bringing groceries and pantry items. The weather was chilly most of the day with damp air which made it feel even colder. But the rain and wind held off. We’d take cold over rain or wind, any day.

Groceries today were delivered by Sacred Heart School & Parish, Doxa, First United Methodist, Overlake Park Presbyterian, Highland Covenant, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Lighthouse churches, as well as the Champions Foundation and Jubilee Friends group. A total of 208 grocery orders came in today and all went out to families. Thank you to everyone who participated today.

The morning volunteer group was from Westminster Chapel. This crew of 10 had enough people to take on extra tasks within the operation, along with the receiving of groceries and packing of food boxes. It was a great group and lots of fun. Thank you, crew!

Food boxes arrived early this morning for the third time this week. With the colder temperatures, this is totally fine and makes the whole morning easier to plan. The Costco truck with eggs actually came even earlier. Volunteers brought food from the Crossroads QFC later in the morning. Love it when the plan comes together!

Spiritridge Elementary in Bellevue did day 2 of their food/pantry drive for the grocery program. PTSA members delivered two cars full at about 4:00pm, and the volunteers quickly loaded it all into the building. What a great gift from the community to this program. Thank you!

The weekly delivery from Eastside Baby Corner came today. This partner in Issaquah has provided a weekly supply of diapers and more since the spring. Thank you EBC and thank you Theresa for the delivery.

An update on one family we’ve been following:

Shahin came today instead of her normal Wednesday. This was because her husband had an MRI at Overlake Hospital for his ongoing battle with a brain tumor. She doesn’t fully know the results yet but understands the doctors are most concerned about swelling in one portion of his brain. It is the area that controls speech, which is why he cannot talk. They increased his medicine to try to reduce the swelling. Unfortunately, the side effect is it keeps him awake, so he didn’t sleep at all last night. She says he is normally a calm, easy-going person, but his current state is full of frustration and anger. She left him resting when she came to Jubilee. She said she is on a constant edge of tears, which she holds back when she is home. She is so tired. Please continue to pray for their family.

She also came to Jubilee on Monday seeking help to understand an auto shop statement. She had gone to a place to have the oil changed and tires rotated on her car. They did an inspection and gave her an estimate of $1600 to fix everything. They also said 2 tires needed to be replaced, so gave her an estimate for 4 new tires for another $700. She was very confused and very scared that her car is unsafe. We helped her understand the details of the quote and what was necessary now and what wasn’t. The only thing really needed was replacing the light bulbs over the back license plate. This story shows how such a simple thing for someone raised in this culture can create confusion and panic in someone like Shahin. She needs help navigating parts of life around here. The hope in building relationships of trust with families through the grocery program, we can also help them through the Community Care department in the future, such as things like this.

USDA Food Boxes:

As mentioned in this space earlier this week, the current USDA program supplying the food boxes will end on December 31. Here is the website, so you can follow any updates yourself: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box. We are currently in ‘Round 4’. You can also see how the funding has diminished since the summer peak. We didn’t actually start utilizing the boxes until September 22. You can watch the news about the relief package being discussed in Congress right now. This is how funding will be provided for any potential ‘Round 5’. There will definitely be a break between rounds, no matter what. Please pray for guidance on how this program should continue, along with us. Please share any ideas. Thank you.

Thanks for another great day and another great week in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. We are blessed to be in such a deep partnership with you all to keep this program running. Thank you!

Have a great evening, wherever this email finds you.

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

Groceries for Families: Week 37 - Day 3

Groceries for Families: Week 38 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 37 - Day 2