Groceries for Families: Week 15 - Day 2
Day 86 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program rolled along very smoothly today. The misty rain kept us cool this morning, but the sun came through just before 1pm, which was really nice. Our operation has a habit of opening 3-4 minutes late most days. Today we were ahead of schedule, so opened up 3-4 minutes early. Most of the first 20 families in line had bags holding their spots, but they were in their cars or on the lawn talking. They were shocked when we opened early and scrambled to get back to their spots. Gotta keep ‘em honest, you know. 😊
Cornerstone Delivery
Jubilee Friends Delivery
Groceries today were provided by Crossroads Bible, Cornerstone, Creekside Covenant, Westminster Chapel, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 183 orders came in and all went out to families today, including 11 by delivery. The morning was a calm and steady wave of people dropping off orders. Thank you everyone!
Pacific Coast Produce dropped off three pallets of food boxes this morning right at 8:00am. As you’ve read before, we receive these for Viviente Dios Methodist Church in White Center, Seattle. Pastor Guzman came at 9:30am with a Ford van, which our crew quickly filled. He is taking care of his congregation and his community. We are blessed to partner with him.
The market was full today with a variety of fruit and produce items, as well as canned goods. Like yesterday, a wide assortment of baby formula was also available. For those who use it, the formula is like found money. They were very excited to be able to go home with a large container today. Thank you!
Today’s Market
A few personal stories from Ken:
Last Friday, we gave a young girl (maybe 4-5 years old) a coloring book as a small gift. She lit up with joy as she received it. Handing it to her, I asked her to color her favorite picture and bring it back to us. Today, I saw her and her mom walking down the sidewalk before we opened. The young girl was leading the way with a colored picture in hand. She proudly presented it to me, and her mom said her daughter had been so excited all weekend to bring it. We took the young girl into the building lobby where all the crew was able to thank her and tell her how lovely it was. She chose the spot on our ‘wall of fame’ to hang it, where we’ll all see it every day now. What a sweetie!
There’s a man who comes for groceries every Tuesday and Friday. He’s probably been coming since early May or so. He often comes at the end of the day, so I get to chat with him a little bit. Today, he brought his two grandchildren with him. While they were in the market, he and I were able to talk deeper. The children are his daughter’s, but she abandoned the family. So, he is now the legal caretaker and raising the kids. He shared it is really hard, and he certainly doesn’t feel like he’s doing a good job. He shared his feelings about the COVID crisis, which were a bit on the conspiracy theory side of things, but seemed to be him trying to explain and justify things in his own life. It’s a hard life for him.
The family who only eats vegetables couldn’t come on their scheduled day yesterday, so they showed up today. Dad and daughter were here at about 12:30pm. We had three bags of a wide variety of vegetables and fruits ready. The daughter, just finished 5th grade, was literally bouncing with joy as her dad took the groceries and squealed, “I’m just so very happy!”. The dad’s face was a huge smile, which we didn’t use to see from him. Keep praying for them.
Today’s PM Crew
Thanks for another wonderful day of serving this community together. There are so many good things happening through this program, many of which we can’t see or now. But do trust they are out there. Thank you for all you’re doing to sustain it.
Blessings to you all,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
