Day 1 of week 21 was a very nice day all-around, which is always a nice goal to have. The morning was smooth with lots of people dropping off groceries and pantry items. The crew was busy all morning long. The afternoon was a steady flow of families, right up to the end. Such days are not taken for granted. A lot goes into keeping this operation humming along, and a huge thanks to everyone who plays a part in it each day. Thank you!

Groceries today came from Rain City, Sacred Heart, Lighthouse, Common Good, 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 122 orders came in today and all went out to families today, including 26 by delivery. Thank you to everyone who participated today!

The market and exit tables were all full today of extras. Volunteers yesterday brought a large delivery from the Safeway Thrashers Corner in Bothell. Thank you!

Volunteers today brought a delivery from the QFC Crossroads. Thank you!

Many of you brought in extras. Thank you!

As the afternoon went along, additional items were added from refrigeration. So great!

A couple of pictures to show you the two areas.

Our supplier of fresh trout returned today which a beautiful batch of fish caught up near Carnation.

For families that don’t each beef and chicken, this is a welcome addition to the program.

Thank you, Linda!

Pastor Gerardo from El Dios Viviente Methodist Church in White Center was here early this morning.

He is pastoring his congregation and about 300 families in the community through food.

We were able to give him a van load of extra food, which he distributed today. Please pray for him and his wife. Pray for their congregation and community. We’ve become very close to them all.

Families were offered a choice of 3 hygiene items today. Thank you to everyone who filled the pantry the past few days.

The food truck this week will be here on Wednesday from 4-7pm. It is wood-fired pizza from Cascadia and is wonderful. Plan to come!

A personal story by Ken and Daniel:

This afternoon, Daniel received the following email from the ‘Family Engagement Specialist’ at Lake Hills Elementary, which is adjacent to Jubilee REACH.

“A teacher reached out to me asking for help to this family. They are refugees from Africa and today the teacher went to their house and they have eaten only bread all day. The children were so hungry, so she went to buy some snacks for them.

Could you please send a runner with food to their house? And Extra Safeway vouchers, so they can buy special food that they like. No allergies, 2 adults, 3 children, 12,10,7 They speak Swahili. They are short in everything ☹ Thank you so much.”

Daniel reacted immediately by driving two orders of groceries to their home nearby. The kids speak a little English but are very shy. The dad spoke enough English to say hello. We will work to find a Swahili translator and return tomorrow with hygiene items and more.

This is the kind of family this program can and should help. There are more like this out there. As we transition into Version 2 this fall, the hope is the school leadership can help identify such families in crisis, and they can be brought into this program, not just for the food, but also for the love, community, and feeling of hope. We need to help them.

The plan for Version 2 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program is being rolled out to all the partners now. Additionally, we told the families today about the program extending past August. Until now, all of them think it is ending on August 29th. There was immediate joy and relief as Marjorie passed them a note and verbally shared with them the program will continue, albeit in a new form. We felt it best to tell them now, so as to alleviate any stress felt about it ending.

We begin week 21 with about 485 families in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program, all coming twice per week. There are no families on the waiting list currently, as we onboarded many last weeks from it. Thank you for your continued support. We are in the last three weeks of the current version of this program. Please keep going right to the end. It is working!

From Ken – I’ll be taking a few days off this week to go camping with my family - gone Wed-Sun. Ashley (ashleyp@jubileereach.org) and Sam will be running the operation while I’m gone. If you need me personally, find me tomorrow. Otherwise, they will be watching my email account during this time. Please pray for rest, relaxation, and trout which are biting.

Blessings to you all,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 21 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 21 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 20 - Day 6