Groceries for Families: Week 17 - Day 2
Today may have been the busiest day in the 98-day history of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. It sure felt that way, at least. Whew! The morning was very busy with incoming groceries, food box deliveries, some runs to QFC, and other extras. The afternoon was non-stop families, right up until 3:15pm. Plus, Tuesday/Friday families have lots of large families (8 or more), which means they get two orders of groceries. Add the heat of the afternoon and being short one crew person in the afternoon because of illness, and it made for a very, very full day. The operation itself went smoothly. No issues. But the crew was beaten.
Cornerstone Delivery
Westminster Chapel
Groceries today came from Cornerstone, Creekside Covenant, Westminster Chapel, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Crossroads Bible Churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 163 orders came in and 173 actually went out to families today, including 6 by delivery. This overage was possible by using food boxes for 10 families, as described below. Thank you to everyone who donated today!
BelPres Delivery
Food Boxes Delivery
As you’ve read before, every Tuesday Pacific Coast Produces delivers five pallets of food boxes to Jubilee REACH through a program offered by the federal government. Today, the truck arrived just after 7:00am and was asked to wait 45 minutes to keep things cold as long as possible. Jubilee receives these pallets to support Viviente Dios Methodist Church in Seattle.
Viviente Dios Church
Pastor Guzman and his wife came at 9:00am with an empty van, and, together with the crew, quickly loaded 150 boxes full of lovely dairy products for him to distribute to his community. That’s 3750 pounds, likely overweight for the vehicle, which showed in the sagging of the back end.
The other 2 pallets are held for us to use today and tomorrow if any extra grocery orders are needed. Today, we used 10.
Pastor Guzman will return tomorrow afternoon for whatever remaining boxes there are. It is a wonderful partnership, and we are very blessed to close to them. Please pray for them, their church, and the community they are caring for in White Center.
Creekside Covenant delivered the first picked produce from their church garden today. Wow, what lovely greens! Much of it will go to the Jewish family we are caring for by saving green vegetables, as you’ve read about before. Thank you! If any of you have access to fresh summer garden vegetables, please send them our way.
With the market area occupied by the food box pallets, there wasn’t a normal market today. However, with a lot of fresh produce here, and some wonderful items brought from Trader Joes by the Food Bank at Lake Samm Foursquare Church.
We set up a long table in the exit line for people to access. A picture is attached. Essentially, it was a 20’ long table covered in apples (red, yellow), onions (white, yellow, red), potatoes, eggplant, baguettes, pineapple, mushrooms, yellow squash, cucumber, and a few more small things.
Everyone was allowed to take what they need, which is typically one plastic bag’s worth. It was just awesome. The regular market will return tomorrow.
A few emails from families:
Hi, your churches have helped so much to my family and I’m very very much thankful for all that help you guys provide. And I’m very grateful that I’m welcomed, they make us feel like home. Everyone is very nice very for helping us to take groceries to our car very much appreciated. And once again thank you. Also thank you to the family who help my family with a gas card to transport my son to he’s doc app very much appreciated thank you. I have no words to say how much we appreciated and how blessed my family is for all this help thank you.
Hola Daniel. Primeramente para agradecerles a todas las personas que nos dieron su apoyo estos meses difíciles, mi Familia y yo estamos muy agradecidos con todos ustedes. Y para informarle que ya estamos trabajando y ya no necesitaremos de las bolsas de comida. Muchas Gracias se los agradezco mucho.
Hello Daniel, First of all, I would like to thank all the people who gave us all their support during these difficult months. My family and I are very thankful for each of you. And to also inform you we are working again so we will not be needing orders of groceries anymore. Thank you very much, we are very grateful.
Thanks for another great day. This program is working. Hopefully, you feel it through these emails and through your own experiences. Together, we are meeting needs right in the community and showing people love, friendship, and compassion. Furthermore, the feedback from so many of you is equally strong, that a need is being met inside yourselves to serve, give, care, participate, and answer the call to help. We feel it too.
Today’s PM Crew
Through the stories you read, hopefully, you get a glance at the real people who are in this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. They are lovely members of our community, and we are all blessed to be walking through life together right now. Thank you for all you are doing. Keep going. Don’t let up. It all matters.
Bless you, bless you, bless you,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
