March 3, 2021

What started as an icy morning with wet fog, gave way to a very spring-like day. Off came the layers one by one. Many people were in short sleeves. It certainly made keeping cold food cold much harder, but it was totally worth it to be warm. The donors this morning dealt with the cold fog but were streaming in with happy faces. There was a big rush early; maybe people were anticipating the sunny afternoon. Thank you everyone! The families benefited from the warmer sun. It was a steady pace all afternoon and ended up being a pretty typical Wednesday for volume. Great day!

Groceries today were provided by 24-Seven, Newport Covenant, Calvary Chapel Eastside, Indian Fellowship, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Crossroads Bible, and St. Louise churches, as well as the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Bellevue, and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 278 orders came in today (Thank you for the extras!!!) and all but 39 went out today. The remainder will go out first tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

The AM crew was mainly from 24-Seven Church today. This group did an awesome job managing the large in-flow of groceries and pantry items. They also packed 120 food boxes. Busy day for them. Well done and thank you, crew!

Delivery from a local distributor was brought by a volunteer this morning, which really made the market full. This load was mainly prewrapped lunches of sandwiches, salads, and more, as well as dry snacks. They are very popular with families. Thank you, Mike!

Thank you for the mandarin oranges today. We had enough for more than half the families today. They are so popular. Thank you for this extra gift.

A volunteer delivered a nice donation from Eastside Dog late today of dog food. This is the 3rd donation they’ve made to ‘Groceries for Families’. Thank you!

A few stories and updates:

Shahin did come this morning to meet with a volunteer who has been walking alongside her. (Read yesterday’s email for details on the death of her husband.) She is able to talk and was happy to be away from their home. She said being there is suffocating. They will bury her husband on Friday in Fall City. From there, life is unknown. If you’d like to bring a card for her, please do. Please continue to pray for her and her daughter.
From time to time, you hear in this space about a Jewish family in the program who comes for fruit and vegetables. Yesterday, David came at 11am, which is the normal time each week. He shared that he has a second interview with Microsoft coming up to be a contractor, which he is very excited about. He is a computer technician and lost his last job in March 2020. He has worked for Microsoft before as both a contractor and an employee. This position could lead to a full-time employee position. Please pray for them.
Rose returned yesterday very excited to report her first week of working at Home Depot in SODO went very well. She likes people and feels good at the job. Her first paycheck should be next week, which she is excited about. She’s working 20 hours per week now and hopes it will go full-time this spring when the store gets busier. She asked if it is permitted for her to remain in the program now that she is working. We assured her she can stay until she is able to fully support herself again. She is happy.

Thanks for another great day in ‘Groceries for Families’. The program is humming along and supporting so many people in this community. It is wonderful to have so many people (all of you!) pulling together to make this even possible. We don’t know many food banks or virus response programs in the nation, but it has to be very unique to have 30 churches, organizations, and groups serving together in this way.

Enjoy the warmish evening locally or wherever you are tonight,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 49 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 49 - Day 3

Groceries for Families: Week 49 - Day 1