The rain persisted all day but never got heavy, thankfully. As you know, Saturday’s are very tight as we aim to receive all the groceries and serve all the families between 9am-12pm. Today went very smoothly, thanks to prompt delivery people and a crew working quickly. We opened on time at 10am and had a steady flow of families all morning.

Groceries today were delivered by Bellevue Presbyterian, Victory Court, and Evangelical Chinese churches. A total of 140 orders were brought and all went out to families today, including 6 by delivery. It’s great when a day balances just right for groceries available to families that come. Thank you, everyone!

Thanks to everyone who has been donating chicken all week. We had enough frozen to give two breasts to every family, which is the weekly goal. With Costco no longer permitting us to buy chicken in bulk, it took many, many people bringing chicken to make this possible. So great! Thank you.

The market was open today and full of good things for families to choose from. Much of it comes from the “extras” included with the grocery orders. Thank you to all who contribute to the extra items.

Many, many personal hygiene items were delivered yesterday and today. The pantry is getting full again, anticipating the first half of next week for distribution. You can see the picture attached showing the front lobby already stocked well for Monday. Enough laundry soap (liquid and pods) were donated the past two weeks that we will be able to give each family 20 pods this coming week. Every family accepts this item and needs it badly. This is the 3rd time we’ve been able to provide this extra item, and it is so important. Thank you to everyone who continues to bring these. We hope to do it as often as possible.

Today ended the bulk ingredient half of the week. There are some fun stats looking at the first 8 weeks of this program. Here is what has been passed out to families cumulatively:

Flour- 1057 bags or 2591 lbs
Rice- 1401 bags or 3503 lbs
Pinto Beans-1233 bags or 1480 lbs
Sugar- 1535 bags or 1459 lbs
Salt- 1066 bags or 693 lbs
Laundry Pods- 462 bags or 9240 loads of laundry + 125-150 liquid soap containers

As with each Saturday, here’s a look at statistics to date after 8 weeks:

Program Days: 48
Families currently in the program: 592+
People in these families: 2664 (approximate)
Grocery orders provided: 5650
Churches & Organizations engaged: 27
Different shoppers participating: 985 (approximate)

Today is the last day of week 8 of this community support program. When this initially started, the commitment was 8 weeks, so we would be ending today. As you know, the program has extended another 4 weeks. We will be evaluating again in the coming week about what to do after June 13.

It's hard to believe it has been 8 weeks, yet feels like a short time looking back. There is so much joy and love running through this program from all sides. It’s difficult to feel tired and weary when doing such meaningful service with so many other people in the community. Thank you for this most recent great week and the wonderful eight weeks walked together. It takes all of us to make this happen and the results are simply wonderful.

Tomorrow is a day of rest.
Be back Monday.

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

Groceries for Families: Week 8 - Day 6

Groceries for Families: Week 9 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 8 - Day 5