The final Saturday of this program was a normal day and flowed right along all morning. Saturdays are unique with one crew handling all the incoming groceries in a quick 90 minutes and then families coming right at 10am. It goes fast. The cool morning felt good and stayed nicely overcast all morning. The sun didn’t come out until later in the afternoon. Families lined up early, seemed to take a break in the middle, and then had a good rush at the end. Overall, it was a very nice day.

Groceries today came from Evangelical Chinese, Victory Court and Bellevue Presbyterian, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 137 orders came in and all went out to families today, including two by delivery. Thank you to everyone who donated today!

The final advance registration day for Version 2 happened in the market area today with Daniel handling the duties. About 30 more people signed up, bringing the total to just over 400 people preregistered. Everyone else will need to register when they show up next week.

This was some heavy-lifting to get all this done over the past six days, so feels very good to have it done.

The exit lane was nice and full today with a variety of foods. We typically use this smaller area for perishable items, so they will go home with families.

The non-perishables haven’t gone out all week, so will make for a nice market next week. Thank you to everyone who gave extras for today.

We invited Pastor Guzman and his wife from El Dios Viviente Methodist Church in Seattle to come this afternoon.

They are caring for 300+ families in his congregation and community.

With this program going quiet until Tuesday, it was a great chance to share whatever food we had available, so they can help others.

This has been a wonderful partnership since the spring. Thank you!

A quick story from Ken:

The wife whose husband receiving treatment for brain tumor was here for groceries today. Someone in the medical profession had offered to help her understand some of the medical reports for her husband, so they met in a private office room this morning. She returned about 2:00pm today with a homemade Iranian dessert, made with pistachios and saffron. Yum! Her husband was with her in the car, so I was able to meet him for this first time. He still has trouble speaking, so the conversation was minimal. But at least we’ve met now. He seems like a very nice man. He’s fortunate to have her caring for him. Their daughter starts school on Thursday. Please continue to pray for this family.

Here’s a fun, quick view of the quantity of bulk ingredients given out this week:

Flour: 75 bags or 188 lbs
Rice: 190 bags or 513 lbs
Beans: 177 bags or 213 lbs
Sugar: 265 bags or 199 lbs
Salt: 169 bags or 51 lbs
Pods: 299 or 5,980 loads of laundry

Here’s a look at totals for all 23 weeks:

Flour: 2,980 bags or 8,235 lbs
Rice: 4,570 bags or 12,339 lbs
Beans: 4,355 bags or 5,226 lbs
Sugar: 5,759 bags or 5,042 lbs
Salt: 4,166 bags or 2,129 lbs
Pods: 3,081 bags or 61,620 loads of laundry

As with each Saturday, here’s a look at statistics to date after 23 weeks:

Calendar Days: 161
Program Days: 138
Families currently in the program: 520+
People in these families: 2340 (approximate)
Families on the waiting list: 0
Grocery orders provided to-date: 23,532
Churches & Organizations engaged: 28
Different shoppers participating: 950 (approximate)

Today marks the last day of week 23 and the last day of the current version of the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Next week begins Version 2, with families coming to Jubilee once per week: Tue, Wed and Thu. This will allow office days on Monday & Friday, with no more weekends. Thank you to all the partners and individuals who have already signed on to continue with Version 2. We are in this together, and it feels so good.

Thank you for all the love poured into these members of our community through this program since the middle of March. It’s been quite a ride and continues to feel like exactly the place we should be together. Thank you, thank you, thank you…a million times…thank you.

This blog summary will continue Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in V2.

Tomorrow is a day of rest. Be back to you Tuesday.

Have a great weekend,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 23 - Day 6

Groceries for Families: Week 24 - Day 1

Groceries for Families Week 23 - Day 5