Well, the rain came today and was actually quite stormy at times. We were watching the canopies in the wind, just in case, we had to chase it down across the lawn. The heavy stuff held off, but it sure was a change from the past couple of months of weather. Despite the rain, the shoppers were delivering groceries and pantry items all morning long. For families, Friday is the busiest day of the week, so there were people here all afternoon.

Groceries today came from Crossroads Bible, Covenant Presbyterian, Westminster Chapel, Evangelical Chinese, and Bellevue Presbyterian, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 151 orders came in today and all went out to families, including 4 by delivery. Busy day! Thank you to everyone who donated their time, energy and treasure today.

Bulk ingredients were offered to families today, choosing 3: flour, rice, pinto beans, sugar and salt. For a rare time, we actually ran out of today’s allotment about 2:50pm. Lots of families today! We held back plenty for tomorrow’s families. Thank you to everyone who give these items each week.

We didn’t set up the full market today, as there were primarily perishable items to offer families. Setting up a few tables in the exit line, these items go very quickly. Today there was plenty of extra dairy, breads, vegetables and the always present apples, onions, potatoes. We’ve started asking families to take extra bags of potatoes to neighbors and friends, to lower the inventory here. It’s working well.

Senior lunches were provided by Crossroads Bible Church and delivered to 25 seniors in the community by volunteers. Thank you to CBC and the volunteers!

A few stories from Ken:

As mentioned yesterday, it is great to see the extended families come out for the food truck. Last week, I mentioned getting to know a woman from Nicaragua, where my family has been to twice on mission trips. As the food truck was finishing last night, a mom and her family showed up for dinner, so I got to meet her husband and daughter. He came to the United States 15 years ago. His wife and daughter (now 20 years old) joined him three years ago. They are from Managua, and it turns out his parents live in the same neighborhood where our family was on our trips. That’s amazing! It was such a fun conversation in a mix of English and Spanish. They are such a beautiful family. I feel very fortunate to have had that time to get to know them further.
A quick update about the Tanzanian family, who has been in this email recently. Daniel delivered groceries to them yesterday. They are stable right now. The dad gave Daniel a big smile when asked if they have started to use the Safeway gift card provided last week. They enjoyed shopping! It looks like two bikes have been found through a volunteer and the Boys & Girls Club. I’ll try to get a picture one day soon. Please pray for this family. We feel there are more families like them out in the community and hope to find them soon to support.

Thank you for another great day. This 22nd week continues to roll along. Saturday will be busy early tomorrow.

Have a great evening,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 22 - Day 5

Groceries for Families: Week 22 - Day 6

Groceries for Families: Week 22 - Day 4