Here we are at week 50 of ‘Groceries for Families’ and can see the one-year mark just over the horizon. It’s hard to believe. This week begins on a positive note, although the family count was lower today for some reason. The weather cooperated, with cool temperatures, no wind, and no rain until late this afternoon. The morning was bustling with lots of people bringing groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Thank you, everyone! Families lined up early, but the line dwindled quickly. Most of the day had a short line, at most. In the end, we seemed to be about 30-40 families short of normal. That’s odd for a Tuesday. We’re sending a communication, that anyone who missed today should come on Wednesday or Thursday. For sure, it is increasingly harder for people to come on their assigned day during the short afternoon window. We’re working to be more accommodating.

Groceries today were provided by Bellevue Kiwanis and the Jubilee Friends group, as well as St. Madeleine Sophie, Cornerstone Fellowship, Covenant Presbyterian, Awakening, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Bellevue Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Westminster Chapel, Creekside Covenant and East Shore Unitarian churches. A total of 195 orders came in today and all went out to families, plus another 11 carried over from last week. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

We welcome St. Madeleine Sophie Parish today as a new grocery provider. Individuals from this church have been involved prior, but today the church was on the participating white board for the first time. This Welcome, St. Madeleine Sophie!

At the beginning of each week, there are a number of deliveries made by volunteers from local stores. Most of this food ends up in the market each day and adds a wonderful variety for families to choose. Volunteers brought food from Safeway Thrasher’s Corner. Volunteers brought food from QFC Crossroads (twice). Volunteers from food from Whole Foods Bellevue. Volunteers brought food from Trader Joe’s Overlake. Volunteers brought food from a local distributor (3 times) – see attached picture. Thank you everyone for your time, effort, and continued dedication.

Each morning (Tue, Wed & Thu) we purchase fresh produce at Chef’s Store (formerly Cash & Carry). These items are added to each food box: green pepper, cucumber, bananas, tomatoes, carrots & garlic. For those of you donating cash to ‘Groceries for Families’, this is where much of it ends up. (See attached picture of Sarah today with a monster carrot) Additionally, eggs are purchased from Costco, so each family gets one dozen. Thank you for supporting this part of the program which provides fresh produce

Denisse is a Jubilee REACH employee who manages the family roster and communication for ‘Groceries for Families’. In the operation, she stands out front and checks everyone in. She is on vacation this week, so there is a substitute ready for each day to cover her very important job. Today, Daniel had the pole position. (see picture to the left).

Jubilee REACH Site Coach Jen serves in the GFF program each Tuesday and usually works the position of filling the unique pantry bags for families. Her normal job for Jubilee REACH is as Managing Site Coach at Tyee Middle School. Some of you may have had children in some of her clubs and sports teams. She is a world-class baker, too!

With the spring temperatures rising, we are looking ahead to the time when food boxes won’t stay cold enough sitting outside through the morning and afternoon.

Today, we made a prototype of an insulating cube made from large bubble wrap, which is wonderful insulation. A zipper was installed on the side for easy installation and removal. If it works as expected, we’ll make a total of five to cover all five pallets of food boxes each day, uncovering them only when needing to pack them with produce & get them out to families. As written above, we’d like to place frozen gel packs all around the boxes under the bubble wrap to add to the cold. If you have any to donate, please bring them to Jubilee REACH.

A few stories and updates:

Shahin, who lost her husband to brain cancer ten days ago, brought a Persian rice pudding for the staff today. It is a tradition in Iran to make such desserts when someone dies and then invite friends to the home. She reversed that today by bringing the specialty dessert to Jubilee. It is flavored with saffron, cinnamon, sugar, and rose water, as well as pieces of pistachio and almonds. Libbey, who is a regular volunteer at Jubilee and has been walking alongside Shahin for many months during this difficult time. Very special.
On Wednesday last week, you read in this space about David, who is interviewing at Microsoft. He passed the second interview and is moving on in the process. Next Monday, he has a third interview and will have a technical assessment. He feels confident he knows about 70% of what they are needing in a technician. He asked for prayers that it goes well. Getting hired would immediately change their lives.
At the end of the operation today, one family was here as part of the normal program getting their food. Another family was also here, as part of the waiting list. The waiting list family was sharing how they had been living in a hotel for a month and now have an apartment near Sammamish High School, about a mile north of Jubilee. They asked if they could push their groceries in a QFC cart to their home and bring it back. The other family in the program overheard this and offered to give them a ride home. It was a wonderful sight to see these two families immediately bond, with one supporting the other. Love that!

We begin this week with 737 families in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program (240 Tue, 237 Wed, 260 Thu). There are 22 more families in the waiting list, who can still come weekly for food. Interestingly, 10 families which had previously been removed from the program due to poor attendance returned last week and are now on the waiting list. That is a lot for one week. There are 68 families currently on the unofficial “watch list”, meaning their attendance has not been consistent. We’re communicating with them to find out how we can help.

Here’s the breakdown for the number of people in each of the 237 families:

1= 12
2= 50
3= 116
4= 192
5= 192
6= 114
7= 26
8= 23
9= 5
10= 5
11= 1
12= 0
13= 1

Thanks for another great day and start to the week. Watch for upcoming communication about the one-year mark and Easter. Have a great evening, wherever this email finds you.

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

Groceries for Families: Week 50 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 50 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 49 - Day 3