April 27, 2021

With the start of week 57 of ‘Groceries for Families’ we welcome the last week of April. Both are hard to believe. Time just rolls along. The weather this morning was back to chilly, with cold hands to prove it. It finally gave way to enough warmth by the late morning, continuing to a warm but cloudy afternoon. The sun even came through a few times. The morning was busy in the parking lot with lots of happy people delivering groceries, pantry & hygiene items. Thank you, everyone. Families lined up early and kept a steady pace all afternoon. It was a slower day than a normal Tuesday, but about 25 families. We’re not sure why. We’ll see if they come in the next couple of days. Overall, the operation was running smoothly.

Groceries today were provided by Bellevue Kiwanis & the Jubilee Friends group, as well as Saint Madeleine Sophie, Westminster Chapel, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Creekside Covenant, East Shore Unitarian, Covenant Presbyterian, and Cornerstone Fellowship churches. A total of 186 orders came in today, and all went out to families. Thank you to everyone who donated.

We want to acknowledge the store donations and volunteers who bring them each week. Safeway Thrashers Corner is delivered by Dale & Kathy. Local Distributor is delivered by Mike and Gil. Whole Foods Bellevue is delivered by Fred. Amazon Go Overlake & Kirkland is delivered by Rick. QFC Crossroads is delivered by Gil, Mike, and Kyle. Trader Joe’s Overlake is delivered by Fred. Renewal Food Bank also delivers food from Safeway Overlake. Thank you, everyone!

The AM volunteers were from Bellevue Christian Reformed Church today. They worked hard all morning receiving the deliveries and packing the food boxes. They also took on many other tasks like making flower bouquets & setting up cones. Thank you, and well done, crew!

Senior lunches went out today to 32 people in the community. A tasty lunch of tuna sandwiches and lots of extra goodies were delivered by Barb, Liz, and Theresa, as well as two trainees, Sheri & Linda. Thank you, ladies!

We received a large frozen delivery from Amazon in Kirkland on Sunday morning, which required us to take all the ice gel packs out of the freezer. We put 12 crates of them on two carts outside under the canopies and wrapped them in many insulating blankets. Two days later, we used them today when food boxes arrived at 11:00am. The large ones were still plenty frozen. Whew! They are all back in the freezer now.

A few stories and updates:

Shahin came this morning with a lovely thank you gift to the staff and volunteers. It was a wide selection of Persian cookies and pastries from a local Persian store. She simply wants to say thank you for the support she receives here. Please continue to pray for her. She is still grieving the loss of her husband, and she has found a home at Jubilee. She is seeing a counselor, which should provide some help. A volunteer also continues to walk closely with her. If you’d like to bring a card for her, please so. It would be nice to let her know people care.

Each day at 12:50pm, we do a staff orientation for the afternoon shift and end with a prayer. With the doors wide open, some of the families can see us. Once done, the crew heads out to open the operation. Today, a mother and daughter stopped to comment. The nine-year-old wanted to say she was happy to see us praying. We told her we do this every day and always pray for the families who come to Jubilee. She said thank you. We invited her and her mom to join us next Tuesday in the prayer. Hopefully, they will come.

An email from a family today: “Hi, here’s the Tajer Family, and we would like to show our Thanksgiving for your Services and Kindness towards our Family, with this Email. Your Generous Help with Groceries is a great help in our Family Life in this day’s thanks a lot and hoping you all the best.”

Today we chatted with a family from Turkmenistan who doesn’t speak English but has been in the program a long time. A friend translated for them so that we could welcome them. The four-year-old boy asked if we had a toy for him and his two-year-old sister. We had a few things, a stuffed gorilla and a stuffed reptile. We handed it to them using the Turkmen word for ‘toy,’ which added to their smile. Nice.

Maria brought tamales

We begin this week with 687 families in ‘Groceries for Families’ (3091 people), which is up 1 from last week. There are another 22 on the waiting list. This is the first week we’ve not seen a decline in some time. We’ll continue to watch it. Some of you ask about the people on the waiting list. They have a different color of identification card and are invited to come once per week. They can come at the end of the day (3:00-3:30pm) and receive a good assortment of food. They don’t receive the pantry items.

We are continuing to discuss and discern the future of ‘Groceries for Families’ past the current date of June 30. Many indicators are being watched, including the possibility of King County going back to Phase 2. This would be a blow to the restaurant industry. We would like to invite you to pray about it and join us in discernment. If you have ideas or thoughts, please do share them with us. We are in this together and welcome your input. As decisions are made, we will be communicating details to everyone.

Thank you for the support and commitment to these families through this program. Please continue to pray for them. We want to always be in a relationship with them, affirming they are valued members of this community and there are people who care about them.

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 57 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 57 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 56 - Day 3