March 31, 2021

Day 2 of the week was much like the first, with a busy operation and lovely weather. The morning was chilly, but it steadily gave way to a warm enough day. By the afternoon, it was very pleasant, especially in the sun. The morning was buzzing with lots of happy people dropping off groceries, pantry items, and Easter bags. It’s so great to see so many people coming to support this program. Thank you, everyone! The afternoon was very busy, with a long line to start and a steady line right to the end. Lots and lots of food & pantry items went home with people today. Very smooth day.

Groceries today were provided by Indian Fellowship, Newport Covenant, Crossroads Bible, St. Louise Parish, Bellevue Presbyterian, Calvary Chapel Eastside, 24-Seven, and Bellevue Christian Reformed churches, as well as the Rotary Club of Bellevue, the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 285 orders came in today (thank you for the extra!) and all but 35 went out to families today. The remainder will go out first thing tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

Food boxes didn’t arrive until 12:00pm today. Gulp! Somehow, we were left off the delivery list, which has never happened before. At 10:30am we reached out to ask for an estimated arrival time, which discovered the error. Fortunately, Medosweet Farms was able to scramble to load a truck in downtown Kent and get here in time.

This delay left the AM volunteers from Bellevue Presbyterian Church with one less major task to complete – that of packing 100 food boxes. Wednesdays are busy enough with other things, that they found plenty to do. Thank you, crew! Food boxes were quickly packed by the PM crew, which started at noon. All was fine in the end.

Thank you for the wave of Easter bags brought to Jubilee today. Wow! The repeated comments from people were how fun it was to make them. Volunteers spent the morning receiving and sorting them in the library. The picture attached shows the bags ready to be handed out this afternoon. Three volunteers handled this and did an excellent job interacting with families. Thank you, volunteers!

A few quick updates and stories:

The Easter bags are extremely popular with families. You can see the joy in the faces of the parents. Speaking to Angelina, she expressed how happy she is to give her three children something on Easter. They celebrate the holiday but had nothing for their children special. Now they do. Tomorrow, she will bring the staff lunch, as her way to say thank you. She received an Easter bag and was able to choose her own, which she loved. Then she was given flowers for her mother, which resulted in the sweetest squeal of joy ever made. It was heard throughout the operation, and everyone turned to smile. After this picture was taken, she literally skipped her way through the market with a bag and flowers in hand. Such pure happiness.

Erwin sent an email with an update on his wife. They saw a specialist yesterday at Harborview. She now has a new inhaler, which seems to be improving her cough already. Although cancer has been ruled out, they are still trying to solve the mystery of what is making her ill. They are also concerned about their 21-year-old daughter, who lives in Seattle and is in a dangerous relationship. He has asked for continued prayers for their family.

A picture of Trenton is on the right. He is a new Jubilee associate as Community Care Specialist. He has long been involved at Jubilee through Lighthouse Church. Over the last month, he has been immersed in the grocery operation and is now able to run shifts, giving Ken shifts off. Say hi to him when you see him. He’ll also be running service projects in the community with volunteers. Welcome, Trenton!

There was a great article shared with us this week about the importance of diapers, in this time of need. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/17/parenting/diaper-bank-coronavirus.html It certainly captures that part of the ‘Groceries for Families’ program very well.

Thank you for another great day. Collectively, we are all making a difference in this community. May your heart be continually touched and changed by your involvement.

Enjoy the warm’ish evening,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 53 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 53 - Day 3

Groceries for Families: Week 53 - Day 1