December 22, 2020

What a difference a day makes!? After brutal weather yesterday, today was cold but very dry with blue skies. It made the whole operation easier and much more tolerable for those out in the weather much of the day. The line of families extended way out on the grass all afternoon. At least 20 families who should have come yesterday, came today. About the same amount from tomorrow came today, too. It was busy all afternoon, which was awesome. The morning was buzzing with lots of people dropping off groceries and pantry items. Loved today! Thank you.

Groceries today came from Bellevue Christian Reformed, Cornerstone, East Shore Unitarian, Evangelical Chinese, Bellevue Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Westminster Chapel, Covenant Presbyterian, Creekside Covenant, and Awakening churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 235 orders came in today and all went out to families today, plus quite a few carried over from yesterday. Wow, so busy! Thank you to everyone who donated today.

Food boxes arrived on time around 9:30am. Love that! Volunteers brought food from QFC Crossroads. Volunteers brought food from Safeway Overlake, via Renewal Food bank. There were some great additions to the market today, including some lovely roses. Thank you everyone!

The AM volunteers today came from Indian Fellowship. This crew consisted of 9 teenagers, plus two dads who hung around to help. They worked hard and got everything done. Thank you, crew!

The Bellevue Kiwanis Club and Interlake High School Key Club made 600 cooking treat bags for this week, 200 for each day. We’ve put one in each grocery bag, so families found a sweet treat with a nice note waiting for them when unpacking. Thank you for this wonderful holiday gift!

The heavy snow last night had to be knocked off with a broom about 8:00pm. Sliding off the canopy roofs, it did some minor damage to the gutter system installed on the main canopies. Jeff, one of the original creators of it, returned this morning and this afternoon to assess, make repairs, and improvements in the weak spots. Happily, the gutters are now back to function again. Thank you, Jeff!

Lunch was delivered today to about 25 senior citizens in the community. This weekly outreach has been going since the spring and is intended to not only provide a tasty meal, but also help people not feel so isolated. Barb, the Jubilee Hospitality Manager, has done a tremendous job creating the meals each week, with the help of many volunteers. The lunch today was actually provided by the Bellevue Fire Department, which delivered them to Jubilee in a big fire truck. Thank you, Bellevue Fire!

One of the donors on this email chain has a heart for the families who don’t eat meat, preferring fish. She often brings fish for these families. Yesterday and today, she brought enough that we put it all on ice right at the main table in the operation, so the crew could have easy access to it. Families were thrilled to have this offered to them, when chicken is not part of their diet. Thank you, Pam!

A few stories:

A very tasty taco lunch for the staff was provided by Lilly today. She comes each Wednesday for groceries, but brought a homemade lunch today to say thank you for the holidays. She is a good cook and expresses her gratitude through her cooking.
Sylvia, another grocery family, brought a lovely plate of homemade cookies for the crew today. Wow! The shortbread chocolate drops are especially good.
Mariana and Hilda are two wonderful friends who have been in the program since the spring. They bring joy and life every Tuesday. Today, they laughed their way through the grocery line. An hour later, they returned in silly holiday suits bringing treats for each of the staff members, delivering it with holiday joy and lots of love. We took a large group photo with Mariana’s phone. We love these two!
Randy, Executive Director of Jubilee REACH, joined the crew this afternoon and kept the market full. He worked hard! Thanks.

Thanks for another great day in Groceries for Families. Thank you for sustaining this through the busy holiday season, too. Wow! This community is pulling so hard and so well together to support these dear families in our back yard. Thank you, so much.

Merry Christmas!

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

Groceries for Families: Week 39 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 39 - Day 3

Groceries for Families: Week 39 - Day 1