Groceries for Families: Week 14 - Day 2
Today’s heat brought a slight breeze with it, which was very welcome. We had fans running inside the building and will be adding more tomorrow. The issue is the masks, which make ventilation tough, generating more heat. Families came steadily all afternoon, with the last half an hour very, very busy right up until 3:10pm. Overall, it was a very nice day with a very smooth operation.
BelPres Delivery
Creekside Delivery
Groceries today came from Crossroads Bible, Creekside Covenant, Cornerstone, Westminster Chapel and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 174 orders came in and all went out to families today, including 15 by delivery. It was a wonderful morning with orders coming in steadily from about 9am. Thank you to everyone who participated today. Well done!
Westminster Delivery
NCL-NLYM Delivery
Food Boxes
Food boxes came about 8:30am this morning from Pacific Coast. Three pallets of 25 pound boxes filled the market area.
As written before, we order these boxes not for the Jubilee families specifically, but for Viviente Dios Methodist Church in White Center. Pastor Guzman came at 9:30am to take a full van load and returned at 3:00pm for the rest.
He is not only providing for his congregation but is helping supply food to the entire neighborhood around his church. It is a wonderful partnership.
We had a guest worker on the PM crew today. Elizabeth is our main contact at Bellevue Presbyterian Church for this program.
She came to experience the program herself and had a great time. We put her to work on the back end of the operation, filling orders with milk and hamburger from the refrigerators, and keeping the conveyor belt moving.
She did a great job. Thank you, Elizabeth!
Elizabeth
Inside Crew
You’ve heard of the 25 seniors in the community who have lunch delivered to them Tuesday and Friday. The Bellevue Rotary stepped forward this week to also provide them dinner on Sundays from Tutta Bella for the next 8 weeks. As we called those without email, one 90 year old woman was so happy, saying her Sunday dinner is typically peanut butter on English muffin. Thank you Bellevue Rotary and thank you delivery volunteers! We love these people, and it is so great to help them during this time of isolation for them.
A personal story from Ken – follow up:
I wrote this on the May 29 email summary: “There is a family which comes every Tuesday and Friday which I look forward to seeing every day. It is a dad and three kids, about 7, 9 & 11. The dad is quiet, yet does carry a conversation with me. The kids are very nice and stay close to their dad. It’s two boys and a girl, so there are regular conversations about who needs to carry the groceries for dad. The oldest boy definitely wants to carry the heaviest. On Tuesday, the oldest wasn’t there, so today we had him carry ALL the groceries, which the other two just loved. I recently asked about their mom/wife, who they had referred to sometimes. She is a nurse taking care of seniors in Seattle, so goes to work at 3pm daily. They are rightly very proud of her. Hopefully, we’ll see her in person one day. This is just one of the many families, but one I’ve grown very fond of.”
An update: Today, the same family came and brought their mom/wife for the first time. As I spotted them in line, I instantly knew who she was and went directly to them. It was clear to me the kids knew I would be excited to meet her, as they were very excited to introduce us. As it was her first time, she was still getting used to the whole situation, so a little cautious. She said her work today started a little later, so she was able to come. She’s now working in Bellevue, so a lot closer to home. We had a delightful conversation and all ganged up on teasing the dad a little. He works as a driver for Microsoft and is hopeful to be rehired in July. At the front of the line, we gave the mom some pretty hand lotion and chocolates. All the kids each carried a bag of groceries. Pray for them with me.
Today’s PM Crew
Thanks for another great day. This ‘Groceries for Families’ continues to fill a gap for the community. It takes all of us pulling together to make it happen. Thank you. Keep going!
Have a wonderful summer evening,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
