Groceries for Families: Week 48 - Day 1
February 23, 2021
Week 48 is here and begins on a very positive note. Even the weather was decent, with only the wind making it feel chilly. There were very dark clouds to the north over Kirkland, but they never came south. Whew! The morning was a steady stream of people dropping off groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Busy place! Thank you everyone. Families lined up right at 1pm and kept a steady pace all afternoon. Like last Tuesday, many families picked up food for other families, so there were many double, triple, and quadruple orders for the crew to pack. It is great to have families helping each other in this way.
Bellevue Kiwanis Delivery
Creekside Covenant Delivery
Groceries today were provided by Bellevue Christian Reformed, Crossroads Bible, Covenant Presbyterian, Cornerstone Fellowship, Westminster Chapel, Bellevue Presbyterian, Creekside Covenant, East Shore Unitarian and Awakening churches, as well as Bellevue Kiwanis and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 189 orders came in today and all went out to families, as well as 31 more carried over from last week. Thank you to everyone who donated today.
Today’s AM Crew
The AM volunteers were from Crossroads Bible Church. This group of guys did a great job of receiving and processing all the incoming orders. The USDA food boxes were very late today, arriving at 11:30am. The team worked overtime to get 100 of the boxes packed with fresh vegetables and fruit by 12:15pm. Thank you, crew!
Volunteers brought food for the market from the Safeway Thrasher’s Corner, QFC Crossroads (twice), Whole Foods Bellevue, Trader Joes Overlake, and a local distributor (three times). Wow! This food anchors the market of extra food offered to families daily. Thank you to all the volunteers who make this happen weekly.
Handmade Dresses
We offered an extra market day last Friday afternoon for the families. This an opportunity to put out non-perishables and any extra items which are donated. Families are allowed to take two bags or boxes.
There were handmade spring dresses donated for young girls, which were very, very popular.
An ice cream donation from a local caterer with a broken freezer added some fun, too. Thank you to those who bring these extra items for such days.
Starbucks Cafe Donations
The manager of the Snoqualmie Ridge Starbucks Café attends Crossroads Bible Church and has participated in the grocery program. She organized a Valentine’s Day drive at her store to engage customers in bringing pantry items for the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. It was a huge success, and she dropped off a car load last Friday. Thank you, Jennifer!
Senior lunches were delivered to 32 individuals in the community by Barb and her crew today. A tasty lunch of chicken salad sandwiches and many other treats was prepared. Along with Gina and Theresa, they split up three routes, departing about 10:30am. One goes through Lake Hills, one to Crossroads/NE Bellevue, and one circle from Kelsey Creek to downtown Bellevue to north Bellevue. All lunches are delivered within an hour. Thank you, ladies!
We added 3 blue cones and handicapped signs to the operation today, supplied by a donor (one of you). Two mark close parking spaces very clearly. The third marks a spot in line right upfront. This will allow someone with a handicap to bypass a line. It’s honestly something we should have added long ago. It felt really good to have it in place today. Thank you, Karleen.
Senior Lunches
A few stories:
Lunch was brought today by Maria, who usually spoils the crew on Tuesdays. Today was homemade tuna fish sandwiches. Her niece delivered it today and picked up Maria’s groceries. She continues to express her gratitude through cooking.
You’ve been hearing about Erwin and his family through this email over the past month or so. His wife is dealing with an undiagnosed cough which has lingered since last summer. They have been at Harborview visiting specialists. Last week, they did some more extensive tests. Erwin came for groceries late on Friday (off hours) and shared his fear that the news could be cancer. He was very emotional. They had an appointment today at 2:15pm with the specialists to hear the results. He will likely email or come to Jubilee to share the results as we walk alongside him. Please pray for their family. They have two children at home and a 21-year-old daughter in Seattle.
Lily & Sarah
A few weeks ago, this email detailed Lily who took prepacked sandwiches from a distributor delivery down to Pioneer Square to give to the homeless. She did it again this afternoon and sent back many pictures. She admitted being a bit scared to go there but feels called to do so. One guy recognized her from two weeks ago and thanked her for coming back. Tomorrow at 1:30pm, Lily has a job interview to be a server at an Issaquah restaurant. She is very excited and nervous. She hasn’t worked since losing her job last May. Please pray for her.
As you read last Tuesday, we invited 59 families to enter the program from the waiting list and 32 came. More will likely come this week. We begin this week with 761 families registered in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program, 3424 people. The daily count is 248 Tuesday, 247 Wednesday, and 266 Thursday. We added most of the new families intentionally, so any extra food from earlier in the week will carry over. There are 6 families on the new waiting list. Adding the new families was a bit of a leap of faith. Interestingly, just as we made that decision last week, Cascadia Produce emailed to offer an extra pallet of 48 food boxes on Thursday. Prayer answered! That new pallet will begin next week. Please pray there will be enough food for all the families this week; it will be close by the end of Thursday.
Today’s PM Crew
‘Groceries for Families’ continues to roll along. It is helping so many of the vulnerable families in our community. Thank you for all you’re doing to help. It matters. Please continue to pray for provision and guidance. Many decisions will need to be made in the coming months, and we are actively seeking discernment.
Have a great evening, wherever this email finds you,
Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
