March 30, 2021

We begin this week marking the first week of year 2 of ‘Groceries for Families’, aka Week 53. It sure felt like spring was arriving. The morning was chilly but it gave way to distinct feelings of warmer air. By the afternoon, it was very comfortable outside and especially nice in the sun. No wind and lots of sunshine. The morning was a steady stream of people bringing groceries, pantry items and Easter bags. Thank you, everyone! The afternoon was very busy with families. The line was long to start and stayed consistent most of the afternoon. Great day here!

Groceries today were provided by Westminster Chapel, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Christian Reformed, St. Madeleine Sophie, Bellevue Presbyterian, Cornerstone Fellowship, Creekside Covenant, Covenant Presbyterian, and East Shore Unitarian, as well as Bellevue Kiwanis and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 163 orders came in today and all went out to families, along with 24 orders carried over from last week. Thank you to everyone who donated today!

The return of Easter bags started over the weekend, continued yesterday, and came pouring in today. There were many great stories of the fun people had put them together. Thank you for the time, effort, treasure and love poured into them. Volunteers yesterday received and sorted bags in the Jubilee library. More volunteers did the same this morning. Two volunteers spent the afternoon handing them out to families. It was pure joy to see them going home with people all afternoon. Thank you to everyone!

Deliveries from stores came as usually beginning on Sunday. All are delivered by volunteers: Safeway Thrashers Corner, QFC Crossroads, Whole Foods Bellevue, Trader Joes Overlake, Amazon Go Overlake, Local Distributor. Thank you to all of you who do so much to bring these items to Jubilee each week.

The AM volunteers today were from Bellevue Christian Reformed Church, along with a few other people added to help with Easter bags. These people worked hard all morning on all the usual tasks and then all the extra things are thrown in. They did great! Thank you, crew!

A delivery from Eastside Baby Corner came last Thursday and was missed in this email, so we want to acknowledge it here. Thank you, EBC!

Senior lunches were delivered today to 32 people in the community. Barb, Theresa, and Gina made their rounds late this morning with a tasty lunch. Included were personalized cards from Crossroads Bible Church Women’s Ministry. Thank you, everyone!

Cub Scout Pack 634 of the Wilburton and Woodridge neighborhoods did a drive for the ‘Groceries for Families’ program on Saturday, delivering a full vehicle and U-haul trailer to Jubilee. Well done, fellas and thank you!

A few quick stories and updates:

Families were delighted today to find the Easter bags offered to them. There were many smiling faces of parents. We asked one dad how his family was doing. He said they are fine, but then beamed saying this weekend will be so much better with these bags. Thank you! He was very happy. Hopefully, parents will be the heroes this weekend, giving their children a bit of normal. Otherwise, it is likely nothing would be provided for Easter.

We’ve been following David through his interview process with Microsoft. After 3 interviews and a technical interview, he has been hired and will start work next week. He’ll be a contractor to begin, which he’s done before. The pay is a bit lower but there is a path to being a full-time employee in one year. Additionally, his wife found a part-time job in retail. So, they now have normal income for the first time in one year. We talked about whether or not they need support still from GFF, and they think they can now make it. We will be removing them from the program this week. This is a good story with a great ending. Hopefully, they will make it from here. Please continue to pray for them.

We begin this week with 714 families in the program. There are 38 families on the waiting list. Only 2 of the big families from the waiting list which we invited into the program last actually came to sign up. Since September 1, there have been 144 families removed from the program.

Thank you for the continued support. We discussed as a PM crew today the reality of different experiences each day. As the crew works to serve families, we have one experience. Yet, the families have a completely different experience, all while in the same space in time. As a crew, we need to remember this. Whenever possible, we want to fall on the side of love, grace, understanding, caring, and friendship. It must be very difficult to come to Jubilee each week to receive food and pantry items. We know so little about the lives of these people. It is but for a few minutes each week, we get to be in their lives. Hopefully, they leave with a feeling that there are people in this community who care about them. Today, hopefully, they left with a feeling of Easter.

Have a wonderful week of Easter,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 53 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 53 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 52 - Day 3