We begin week 15 of ‘Version 2’ (week 37 from the very beginning) of ‘Groceries for Families’ on a very good note. Today was busy, busy, busy from the start to finish. Shoppers started arriving by 7:30am and where a steady stream in the parking lot all morning. Lots of groceries and pantry items were delivered today. Thank you! Families didn’t come early because of the rain, but there was a steady line all afternoon. The rain was a constant mist all day, which didn’t matter much unless the wind kicked up. So it is for Seattle winter weather. Oh well.

Groceries today were provided by the Bellevue Kiwanis Club and the Jubilee Friends group, as well as Cornerstone Fellowship, Westminster Chapel, Creekside Covenant, Awakening, Covenant Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, East Shore Unitarian and Evangelical Chinese churches. A total of 191 orders came in today and all went out to families, along with an additional 32 orders which carried over from last week. We delivered 8 orders to the homes of families. Thank you to everyone who gave today. Wow, what a great day!

The AM volunteer crew came from Westminster Chapel this morning. This crew worked very hard to receive all the groceries, process them, and get them ready for the afternoon. They also packed about half the food boxes. They had a great time. Thank you crew!

Food boxes from the USDA arrived this morning at 9:00am, which is early. Four pallets were dropped in the corner area of the covered patio by Medosweet Farms. These boxes contain some vegetables, dairy items, milk, and chicken. We purchase additional fresh vegetables each morning to add, giving families a very balanced and healthy box.

Fresh produce arrived yesterday from Cascadia Produce as part of a King County grant which allows us to purchase fresh produce directly from King County farms. Some of it is for senior citizens in the community, which we offer by staging an open market each Monday afternoon and inviting many people. It is very popular. More is delivered with senior lunches on Tuesdays. The rest of the produce is for general families. This week we received leeks, cilantro, basil, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, red beets, collard greens, and lettuce. The grants will run through December.

Barb and her crew delivered 27 lunches to senior citizens in the community today. These same people received fresh Christmas wreaths last week and repeated their thanks to the crew this morning. All of them love the joy brought by having a wreath on their front door.

A dedicated crew of three men has engineered and built the gutter system under the main canopies to keep everyone dry. Both Friday and Monday had them here for many hours working on it. Today was the first test. One of them came back this morning to check it out and fix a few things. It worked great all day. We are dry! Thank you, Jeff, Charlie, and Dan.

Looking ahead, the USDA program called “Farms to Families” will run out on December 31. This is currently where we get the perishable box of food each day. It is unclear whether the program will be extended at all and, if it does, when the new version would start. If it does not renew, we will need to figure out how to provide these foods in other ways. If it does renew, it is very likely there will be a gap of multiple weeks for us to bridge.

There is money in the new federal spending plan being discussed right now in Congress for this program. Yet it is not clear if it will actually be utilized, even if the bill passes. We will watch and see.

We’d like to ask for your prayers and discernment, as we do the same, seeking the path forward in January. Please reply back with any ideas. Thank you. More details to come.

We begin this week with 695 families in the GFF program. Last week 11 new families were added, including 9 from the waiting list. Two families were removed from the program. There are 75 families on our watch list. This is an increase from last week, when we had a larger the normal no-show amount of families. We are still trying to figure out why they didn’t come on Wed and Thu.

Thank you for another great day in ‘Groceries for Families’. The canopy area outside is looking very festive, with the lights and newly added balls & decorations. Come see it, if you haven’t yet. Seeing it at night is the best. We want the families to feel joy in this season, while they are here. We get many comments from families, so hopefully, this is working.

Have a great evening,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 37 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 37 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 36 - Day 3