Groceries for Families: Week 14 - Day 1
A very warm and sunny day like today had us thankful the back of this building faces north and the tall roof structure offers a nice amount of shade. If it faced south, we would be toast. Although warm, there was a nice breeze most of the day, and closer to the building under the canopies was much cooler than out near the sunny spots. We all agreed today was very smooth. It was a great start to the week.
Jubilee Friends Delivery
Groceries today were delivered by Bellevue Presbyterian, Rain City, 24-Seven, Lighthouse, Common Good, BCRC, and Sacred Heart churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 168 orders came in and all but nine went out to families today, including 25 by delivery. The remaining we had to delay for delivery until tomorrow due to staffing. The morning of incoming orders was great, with lots of people steadily coming in all morning. The first Monday delivery always comes from John at Rain City at about 7:30am. Someone’s gotta be first. Thank you to everyone who participated today.
Lighthouse Delivery
Rain City Delivery
Hygiene items were offered to families today. The picture is to the right shows how the area is set up in the lobby for the crew to access.
Along with the normal items, two special items were offered for the first time. Toothbrushes were provided for each family member. Over 3000 have been delivered here over the past two weeks. Thank you to everyone who rallied to this idea. Families were surprised and delighted to get new toothbrushes for everyone.
Sunscreen was also available and very, very popular. Enough bottles for each family to be offered one was donated by 24-Seven Church, just in time for the start of summer. Thank you, to everyone who helped fill the pantry for this week.
Hygiene Area
If you have any friends who would like to help with the grocery program but aren’t connected to a participating church, you can have them sign up through Jubilee Friends: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0b49a5aa2ba3fd0-jubilee. Feel free to share this link.
A follow-up story from Ken:
On Saturday, I told the story of a crew painting over graffiti on a fence for a homeowner on 156th Ave and hanging signs of support for racial justice. Many of you ping’ed me back saying how much you enjoyed the story. Regretfully, all five signs were stolen during the first night. They didn’t even last 16 hours before someone tore them down. The homeowner let us know early Sunday. We’re all very disappointed.
An email from a family:
Hola buenas tardes Daniel. Disculpe que lo moleste solo quería agradecerle a usted y a todas las familias que nos ayudan con los alimentos para llevar a nuestra mesa quiero agradecer de todo corazón que Dios se los múltiplique a todos.y los Bendiga. Gracias.
Hello, good afternoon, Daniel. Sorry to bother you. I just wanted to thank you and all the families who help us with groceries to take to our table. I want to thank you with all my heart. May God multiply for you all and may He bless you. Thank you.
Today’s PM Crew
Today is the beginning of week 14 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. There are 637 families registered for the program currently. Today, Tuesday and Wednesday we are communicating with the families verbally and in writing with a short note about the duration of the program. We’re telling them the program will be open for the summer and available as long as they need it. When they are able to sustain their family again, they are to let us know so we can remove them from the program. Daniel handled the role today, and it went very well. People appreciate what was communicated and understand what is being said. This is the second time we’ve done this exact communication. It will continue in July. The goal is not to pressure families, but to make sure we are on the same page with them.
Thanks for a really super day. The crew felt motivated all day. It’s a very fun place to be with so much going on. The adventure continues!
Enjoy the nice warm evening,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
