Groceries for Families: Week 55 - Day 1
April 13, 2021
Week 55 begins with t-shirts and even some shorts breaking out as if summer was near. While it was chilly this morning, it quickly wore off for a delightful morning and actually warm afternoon. A steady breeze kept it from getting too warm, but it was one of those days, making it great to live in the PNW. The morning hours were full with a constant flow of happy people dropping off groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Thank you, everyone! Families lined up to the court to open this afternoon. By 2:15pm, the line was gone, and we wondered if no one else would come. By 2:45pm, the pace returned, and the final 45 minutes were hectic. The sunshine certainly makes the whole operation feel so good. Great day!
Bellevue Presbyterian Delivery
Covenant Presbyterian Delivery
Groceries today were provided by Crossroads Bible, St. Madeliene Sophie, Covenant Presbyterian, Westminster Chapel, Cornerstone Fellowship, East Shore Unitarian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Creekside Covenant churches, as well as Bellevue Kiwanis and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 181 orders came in today, and all went out to families. Thank you to all who donated.
Today’s AM Crew
Food boxes arrived about 10:45am, which was good for this warm day. The crew quickly put ice gel packs all over the pallets and in any crevasse before wrapping them in insulating blankets. We had the AM crew only pack one pallet with fresh produce to keep as many boxes insulated as long as possible. The PM crew started a second pallet at 12:45pm, which worked just fine. We’ve asked Medosweet to deliver boxes no earlier than 11am going forward to help us keep food cold longer.
The AM volunteers were not from one church today. Instead, they were a mix of individual volunteers who regularly work on other shifts. It was fun to have them all together. They processed all the incoming groceries and pantry items and packed the one pallet of food boxes. Well done, crew!
Senior Lunches
Barb and her crew delivered senior lunches today. A tasty homemade chili plus lots of extras were delivered to 32 individuals in the community. This program has been going for over 1 year now and has become a wonderful outreach to these people in the community. Thank you, Barb, Gina, and Theresa.
We want to thank the volunteers and stores which donate food at the beginning of each week: Safeway Thrasher’s Corner (Dale & Kathy), Whole Foods (Fred), Local Distributor (Mike & Gil), Trader Joe’s Overlake (Fred), QFC Crossroads (Mike, Gil, Kyle), Amazon Go (Rick). Thanks for all you do to bring food here each week to fill the market.
Seattle Gourmet Delivery
A donation from Seattle Gourmet arrived yesterday of about 100 boxes of high-end snowman sugar cookies. These were originally meant for retail gift bags but were extra inventory after the holiday season. So, we benefit! Today, two cookies were put into every food box. Thank you, Bret and Mike!
Portioning Dog Food
Volunteers portioned dog food this afternoon. We want to do a shout out to everyone who continues to support this unique part of the program: dog food, cat food, cat litter. Many families have pets, and these essentials are offered each week. Pets offer such love and comfort, it is great to help families in this way. Thank you!
A few stories and updates:
A man named Paul was here today with his three children. We see them each Tuesday, and they are always fun to chat with. They are originally from the Congo and lived in South Africa, where the kids were born. They moved to this area just a few years ago. Paul was a driver for Microsoft, and his wife works at a senior living home. Paul lost his job in March 2020 and learned this week he will be called back to work on April 19. He’ll start with 24 hours per week and is hopeful it will grow to full time in the coming weeks/months. He expressed such gratitude for the support of the GFF program. It has meant the difference between being in crisis or being stable. They have been able to maintain their family and home for the past year because of the help. Please pray for their sweet family.
We learned on Friday the USDA Farmers to Families program has been extended through May. This means food boxes will continue to be provided by the same distributors since January. This stability is fantastic. You can follow along here: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box.
In early February, this space told the story of Roberto, who has been with us since the summer. He lost one leg to diabetes and was then in the hospital in Everett at risk of losing the 2nd leg. We learned today they did have to amputate it. We’ve not seen him in many months but keep tabs on him through some families who know him. Please pray for him. He will be struggling emotionally, as much as physically.
Here’s a look at current numbers. We begin this week with 696 families (3132 people) in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. This is down from a peak of around 750 five weeks ago. From the waiting list, 15 new families entered the program last week. More will likely come this week. We added 13 families to the new waiting list, including six families which left the program previously and now have returned. We are hopeful to see a trend downward in the numbers in the coming weeks, as some people return to work. We’re watching things closely.
Today’s PM Crew
Thanks for another great day in ‘Groceries for Families’. Many of you tell us stories of how your own lives are being impacted by participating. People donating feel like they are receiving so much in return. This is how we know it is mission work. So much of mission work is just showing up and doing life with other people. Giving of your time, just so other people know you care. Hopefully, you feel this, too. What you are doing matters, and it is working. Thank you.
Enjoy the warmth of the evening,
Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family
