December 21, 2020

The first day of week 17 of Version 2 of ‘Groceries for Families’ started off wet, got wetter, then got really wet, and then snowed. The morning was tolerable, with mild temperatures and light steady rain. Lots of happy people came in to drop off groceries and pantry items. By noon, the rain came down harder. By 1:30pm, the rain was really coming down hard. At 2:30pm, the temperature seemed to drop 10-15 degrees in minutes. It stayed cold and is now snowing. Families were definitely held away by the heavy weather. The line was slow but steady all afternoon. It is likely we’ll see plenty of families who were expected today but will come tomorrow or Wednesday.

Groceries today were delivered by Highland Covenant, Sacred Heart Parish and School, Lighthouse, Crossroads Bible, First United Methodist, Doxa, Overlake Park Presbyterian, Bellevue Presbyterian and Lighthouse churches, as well as Champions Foundation, Rotary Bellevue Sunrise, and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 214 orders were delivered and all but 24 went out to families today. The rest will carry over to tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

We are open today, Monday, because of the holiday on Thursday. Thank you to all the Thursday grocery providers who switched to Monday. Food boxes could not be delivered today, so we took a box truck to downtown Kent early this morning to pick up 200 boxes. Next week will also be a Monday delivery day for Thursday providers, as we are closed for New Year’s Eve.

Volunteers delivered food from Safeway Thrasher’s Corner yesterday. Volunteers delivered food from the QFC Crossroads today. Produce was delivered by Cascadia Produce today, as part of the King County grant we have to purchase fresh produce from King County farms. Lots of good food was here for families. Thank you everyone!

The market for senior citizens was held again today, this time from 4-5pm because families were here today. About 30 seniors braved the cold, rain, and dark. We will deliver more tomorrow with lunches.

A family in the South Cove neighborhood organized a neighborhood drive for the GFF program and delivered a carload today. It was a wonderful way for them to get other people involved in the program. Thank you!

A few stories:

About 420 of the 500 ‘Jubilee Elves’ gifts were handed out on Friday and Saturday. More came today. The remaining families have been invited Tuesday and Wednesday morning to pick up their gifts. Thank you, again, for all of you who participated and donated.
A woman and her daughter came this afternoon to receive food help. They arrived about 2:30pm and were added to the waiting list about 3:00pm. They don’t speak any English. By 3:15pm, they had a grocery cart with a food box, bag of groceries and milk. As the PM volunteer crew worked, we noticed this family was still waiting at the picnic tables, as if awaiting a ride. It was cold and getting colder. By 4:15pm, they were still there. The mother was visibly shivering. We invited them inside to get warm, but they were reluctant to leave the front of the building. At 4:30pm, another family came late to get their groceries and seemed to know the mother. They offered the woman and daughter a ride home, having to completely reorganize their own car to make room. It was heartbreaking to see this woman and daughter stuck in the cold and not be able to help them more. We were relieved to see them finally climb into a warm car to go home. We’ll watch for their return next week. Please pray for them.

We begin this week with about 735 families in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. This includes about 40 families who entered off the waiting list in the past week.

There is not a new update yet for the USDA Food Box program. We have heard money has been allocated by the government, but do not yet know if the current program will simply be extended, a new program will begin in January or no program will be put in place. This is a nationwide question. It seems likely something will happen, although there will likely be a gap after December 31. We’ll be making some decisions in the next week and will communicate with you directly. Thank you for your concern and prayers.

Thank you for your continued dedication to these families, especially during these holiday weeks.

Merry Christmas!

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

Groceries for Families: Week 39 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 39 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 38 - Day 3