Today’s weather and temperature were just perfect. The sun was out, but it wasn’t too hot. There was a breeze, but it wasn’t windy. As I type, the weather is changing quickly and soon will be rain. The operation today went very smoothly. The AM and PM crews were strong. The families came at a good pace.

Groceries today were delivered by Bellevue Presbyterian, 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Sacred Heart Parish, Lighthouse, Rain City, Common Good, and CityHill Bellevue churches. A total of 152 orders were brought: 126 were picked up by families, 14 were taken out on delivery today and 12 were deliveries we delayed until the morning. Thank you!

Families were offered a list of personal hygiene items, from which they could choose 3: paper towels, deodorant, shampoo, dish soap, bar soap, toothpaste, shaving cream/razor. Today we also offered liquid hand soap for the first time…very popular. Thank you to all who helped restock the pantry since Thursday. You all continue to come through!

A few emails from families:

Thank you so much and Happy Mother's Day to all the mothers who participate in this help... God bless you today and always!!!!!!
This is the first withdrawal we’ve had: “Good evening, I want to thank you, for assisting my family and me with food while my husband was not working and I was the only one working. Now he is going back to work starting this Monday. I will no longer need this assistance. I would like to give my spot, to another family that could use this great assistance. Again, thank you very much for all you guys do for the community. May God Bless you all!

A personal story from Ken:

Last Saturday, as I was here alone closing up the building, three young men pulled up in a car. I approached them to ask how I could help them. Only one spoke English; the other two spoke only Spanish. They asked if the food was available here. I asked if they were in the program. They are not and didn’t know anything about what is happening here daily. I explained we don’t have a food bank, so don’t provide food to people in general. I asked if they had families. No, they are just three friends. (I’d guess around 27-30 years old). I asked if they need help with food. They said yes, and that all of them had been without work for two weeks. My heart broke for these guys, as I could see they were desperate. As I went inside to get some food for them, the one asked if we would also have soap and shampoo so they could clean themselves. My heart broke more. As it was the end of the week, there were bits of extra food around. I was able to give them a full box of food and a few bags of toiletries. We had some box lunches remaining, so they took three of those, too. I hope they come back. It makes me wonder how many people like these guys are out there. At the moment, I did what I could. Now, two days removed, I wish I had done more.

Today begins the 8th week of this program, with currently 12 weeks planned. The waiting list was cleared today, so a total of 592 families are now officially in the program, each coming twice weekly. We know there are some who are no longer coming, simply by the attendance reports, so we will be working this week to purge them from the program. We did this once before a few weeks ago and removed 35 families.

Thank you for your continuous prayers for the families. A community has started through this program. Hopefully, they get more out of coming here twice a week than just-food. Hopefully, they feel welcomed, encouraged and there are friends here who care about them.

Blessings to you all,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Groceries for Families: Week 8 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 8 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 7 - Day 6