We begin week 22 of version 2 of ‘Groceries for Families’ (week 44 from the beginning last March) on a very good note and a very busy day. The weather was quite cold this morning, enough to chill fingers pretty quickly. The wind picked up mid-day, which made it feel even colder. By the late afternoon, the wind died down, which instantly helped. Many of the families commented how cold it was, and too many of them were underdressed. The heaters were very popular today, as people sought to warm up. The morning was very busy with a steady stream of happy shoppers dropping off groceries, pantry & hygiene items. Thank you, everyone! Families lined up early and the line stayed steady until 3:10pm. It was a very, very busy day, and all went well.

Groceries today were provided by Creekside Covenant, Westminster Chapel, Bellevue Presbyterian, Awakening, Covenant Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Evangelical Chinese, Cornerstone Fellowship, Bellevue Christian Reformed and East Shore Unitarian churches, as well as Bellevue Kiwanis Club and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 218 orders were delivered today, above the expected 202. Thank you for the extra orders! All went out to families, along with 3 others carried over from last week. Thank you to everyone who donated.

The USDA food boxes arrived around 8:15am this morning, which was a wonderful sight to see. Five pallets of 48 boxes each were unloaded into the outside patio area, 240 in all. By the end of the day, only 8 are remaining. It was fun to watch them disappear.

A picture of the contents is to the right. We purchase the eggs and fresh produce on the right side of the picture. The milk is removed to make space. It is a very good selection of food for families. We are very grateful to Cascadia Produce and Medosweet Farms for working so hard to start the food box delivery only one week after winning the government contract. They are getting food out to many people in this region.

The AM volunteers came from different churches to form a very strong crew. They braved the cold and did a great job receiving the groceries and being the first people to work with the food boxes. Thank you, crew!

At the beginning of the week, we receive a handful of deliveries from local grocery stores, which starts the week off well. Volunteers delivered food from Safeway Thrasher’s Corner. Other volunteers delivered food from QFC Bellevue. Others delivered from Safeway Overlake. Others delivered from Trader Joe’s Overlake. Thank you volunteers for your dedication to bringing food here.

Denisse is our point person each day, checking families in. She is out from the building, so exposed to the wind. A volunteer engineered two windscreens that can be unrolled when needed and offer protection from the wind for her. We use them nearly every day, and today they were essential. Behind the wind-screens, with the heater on, it was calm and warm. Just outside the wind-screen area, it was cold and windy. Thank you, Jeff!

On Saturday morning, a crew of about 25 volunteers descended upon Jubilee REACH from 9am-11am to rake the grounds and clean off the flat roof from the recent storm. They did an awesome job in the bitter cold of the morning. A picture of their 82-yard waste bags is attached. Thank you, crew, for this wonderful gift. The place looks great.

Senior lunches were delivered to about 25 people in the community today by Barb and her crew. A tasty soup of Seafood Chowder, along with many other fun goodies, was packed nicely for everyone. Thank you, Barb and crew!

GOOD PLANeT Foods donated a large box of plant-based cheese, which was very popular with families in the market today. Thank you, David.

On Friday, we held an extra market day from 12-2pm. It is a chance to put out a large number of non-perishables and any other items we’ve acquired. Families can stock their pantry with canned and boxed goods, along with lots of other items. Usually, about 75 families come during the market time, so the pace is much slower. We let about 5 families “shop” at a time for social distancing.

On this day, we did a quick orientation with the volunteers just before noon. Instead of an opening prayer inside with just us, we went out to the line where about 30 families were waiting and called them together to pray with us. We gathered in a large circle, where we had a chance to welcome them and say a few words.

One thing said to them was, “Before we start, we just want to say that ‘We love you all.’ “ The response back from many of the families was a resounding, “I know”. It was startling to hear this echo back and was very affirming that they both know and feel loved through this grocery program. Hearts were wide open together.

One prayer in English was said. Then one of the family members prayed in Spanish. It was a very moving experience for all of us.

We begin this week with 723 families in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Another 20 are on the waiting list, which we last cleared two weeks ago. (Not all of those invited have returned, which is normal.) We removed 8 families from the program this past week, and another 60 are on a ‘watch’ status for poor attendance.

Please continue to pray for these families. As described above, we want them to feel loved, as well as seen, cared for, known, and that Jubilee is a place of hope for them. They may not know all of you supporting this program, but they are very aware people in the community are helping them. They are filled with gratitude, so please receive it from them here. Life remains hard for them. This program is helping.

Have a great evening,

Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Groceries for Families: Week 44 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 44 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 43 - Day 3