Groceries for Families: Week 47 - Day 1
Here we are at week 47 of the ‘Groceries for Families’ program and can see the one-year anniversary over the horizon. Wow, hard to believe. After the snowy weekend, today was a very lovely day. Even the sun came through at times, and the rain pretty much stayed away. The temperature was very tolerable. The morning was busy but a little lighter than normal, which may be due to mid-winter break for the local schools. But lots of happy people were busy dropping off groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Thank you, everyone! The pace of families was different today, for a Tuesday. Normally, Tuesday is busy from opening to closing, with a steady line. Today was a shorter line to start and even had periods of no line. Yet, the last 30 minutes were very busy. While there were fewer people coming, many families were picking up for other families. We had more double and triple orders than normal. In the end, exactly the normal amount of food went out today. We just got there by a different route.
Bellevue Christian Reformed Delivery
Cornerstone Delivery
Groceries today were provided by Cornerstone Fellowship, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Covenant Presbyterian, Awakening, East Shore Unitarian, Creekside Covenant, and Westminster Chapel churches, as well as Bellevue Kiwanis Club and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 172 orders came in today, which was a little short of the expected 196. All went out today to families, along with 47 orders carried over from last week. Thank you to everyone who donated today.
Today’s AM Crew
The AM volunteers were from Cornerstone Christian Fellowship. With schools on break, the group had adults and teenagers. They did a great job receiving and processing groceries, as well as packing food boxes. Thank you, crew!
Senior lunches were delivered today by Barb and her crew, Ashley & Theresa. Thirty-two seniors in our community received a lovely lunch of lasagna and lots of extras. This outreach has been going on weekly since the spring and is a wonderful way to keep connected to some very isolated people in our community. Thank you, crew!
Senior Lunches
Saturday Afternoon
Snow Shoveling
Rehanging Canvases
If you read the Thursday email last week, you know we took down all the canvases from the tents outside, in anticipation of the snow. That turned out to be a good idea, as you can guess.
Yesterday, volunteers descended upon Jubilee at 10am to shovel the GFF operational area, the parking lot, the front sidewalk, and the street curb. Wow, a lot of snow got moved!
The second crew of volunteers came at 11am to put the canvases back up on all 11 skeletons. They were done within an hour. This morning, with more snow melting overnight, you wouldn’t even know anything different. It looked great and was ready for business. Thank you to everyone who made this possible.
A few stories to share:
On November 3 in this email, the following story was shared: “In line today a man came to Ken to express his thanks and say goodbye. He has been in the program since early summer and has now secured a job in Fremont, CA as a Nurse Technician. So, today is his last day. He was very emotional expressing his gratitude for the support received through this program. He is originally from India and fled persecution as a Muslim business owner four years ago, leaving his wife and four kids. They are safe, but he would have been killed. He received asylum in the US and expected his family to join him this year. With the pandemic, everything is shut down. While he does a daily video call, he hasn’t seen his family since 2016. He is a skilled worker and is excited to have this new job. We embraced and said goodbye. Please join us in prayer as we send him to this new chapter. Such a great story.”
This man’s name is Azmath. Today, he showed up in line…a total surprise. The company in CA had trouble after a virus breakout, and his position was eliminated. So he returned to Bellevue last week, and we readmitted him to the program. His food has actually been utilized by a neighboring family, which he was supporting previously. So, it was easy to give him a slot. It was a fun, yet surprising, reunion. He shared there is hope that his family can join him in the US this year. With the new Presidential administration, rules are changing for asylum people like him. There is a path for him to have his status changed and for his family to come legally. Another option will be for a visiting visa, at the least. He showed pictures of his young children, whom he hasn’t seen except on video since summer 2016. He is very hopeful they will be reunited this year.
As is common on Tuesdays, Maria brought the crew a home-cooked meal. Today was a beef and potato stew. Yum! She continues to extend thanks and love through her cooking.
Eun & Lois
A picture of Eun and Lois is to the right. Lois is the Media and Communications Manager at Jubilee REACH and works the Tuesday afternoon shift. Eun is a Korean lady who lives 2 blocks from Jubilee and comes for groceries on Tuesdays. She doesn’t speak English, so loves that Lois can speak Korean. They’ve developed a nice friendship. Eun is also the person profiled anonymously a few weeks ago for the yard clean-up she does at Jubilee during off-hours. Today, she brought Korean dumplings to share and made it clear all the ingredients came from the food she received from Jubilee. She was very excited to present the food to Lois.
Waiting List to Program
We being this week with 722 families in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. There are 59 families on the waiting list and 64 families on the ‘watch list’. We made the decision this morning to invited the 59 waiting list families to enter the program. We’ll be adding them mainly to Thursday, which gives flexibility at the end of the week and is the slowest of the 3 days. (picture of Denisse switching someone from the waiting list to the program today is on the left.) There is enough food here to absorb these additions. The toughest item will be diapers, as the inventory is getting lower. But it feels like the right time to empty the waiting list, as some have been on there since the second week of January. Many of you have asked about the waiting list families. Thank you for your care of them. Your continued support of groceries and the pantry items allows this leap of faith. Thank you.
Today’s PM Crew
Thanks for another great day. It feels like we were under a hedge of protection with the snow coming over the weekend, instead of mid-week. As beautiful as the snow was, it would be just fine if there is no more this winter/spring. Please do continue to pray for this program. There are many moving pieces and many people involved. Prayers are needed.
Blessings to you all,
Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
