April 6, 2021

Week 54 begins with the warmest day of the spring, so far. We all enjoyed a temperature that must have reached 60 degrees. Being on the north side of the building steals some warmth, but it was still lovely to be outside today. It looks like rain is coming, so we’ll say goodbye to it for now. The operation today was smooth running. The morning was bustling with lots of happy people coming to drop off groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Thank you, everyone! Families lined up early and kept a slow pace up all afternoon. It felt much slower than normal, but in the end, the same amount of food went out, as normal. Strange. The sunshine seems to make everything easier.

Groceries today came from Creekside Covenant, Westminster Chapel, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Christian Reformed, East Shore Unitarian, Cornerstone Fellowship, St. Madeleine Sophie, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Covenant Presbyterian, along with Bellevue Kiwanis and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 191 orders came in today and all went out to families. Thank you to everyone who donated.

As with each Tuesday report, we want to acknowledge the donations and volunteers who bring them from local grocery stores and distributors: Safeway Thrasher’s Corner (thank you Dale & Kathy), QFC Crossroads (thank you, Mike, Gil, Libby, and Kyle), Trader Joe’s Overlake (thank you Fred), Amazon Go Overlake (Thank you Rick), Local Distributor (thank you Mike and Gil), Whole Foods Bellevue (thank you, Fred). This food is the inventory for nearly 100% of the market every day. It adds a ton of variety. Thank you to you all.

Food boxes arrived about 10:15am today, which is just fine. The AM volunteers were from Sacred Heart School today, which included many kids on spring break. This group of all new volunteers had to learn fast and work faster. They did a great job of receiving everything and packing 100 food boxes. Thank you, crew!

Senior lunches were delivered today by Barb and her crew to 32 people in the community. This program has been running for one year now and is a wonderful connection to some dear people who are isolated in the community. Thank you, Barb, Gina, and Ashley!

Somerset Elementary School did a pantry drive for the program this weekend. A volunteer (thank you, Brad!) brought a large load over to Jubilee this afternoon. A picture is coming still. Thank you, Somerset!

A few quick stories and updates:

Tanya is a lady who has been in our program since the summer. She lives about a mile away and always comes early to get a place in line and then goes on a long walk to wait for 1pm. Today we learned more of her story. She lives with her elderly Grandma in an adult home on Richards Road. Tanya picks up food for the two of them and four others who live there. That is her family of 6. The food and other items she brings for them help sustain them and provide things they simply would not have otherwise. We gave her a large bouquet of flowers today to share with everyone.

David dropped in today on his lunch, after starting his new job yesterday as a contractor at Microsoft. He is happy and very excited to be back to work.

Eric is a guy who comes each Tuesday to support his ex-wife and 8 children. He’s come each week since last spring, usually at the beginning. Today he was very late, coming at 4pm. He’s earned his real estate license and just started work for a local agency, so was showing a listing today. Very exciting to hear this! Hopefully, he can get some traction in this new position. Please pray for him.

Lois and Sarah were the two PM crew members filling food boxes today. They had the idea to write kind messages on each box. See the picture to the right. By the end, the messages were longer and included fun drawings. Two sharpie pens were worn down in their efforts. What a fun way to add some joy to each box. Thank you!

We begin this week with 690 families registered for ‘Groceries for Families’. We made the decision to invite the 40 families on the waiting list into the full program. About 8 came today and were welcomed by the crew. There seems to be a slight trend downward in the numbers, with families exiting the program. It is small but still noticeable. We’ll continue to watch this carefully.

Thanks for another great day in ‘Groceries for Families’. Please continue to pray for the families. We do tell them people are praying for them. The Easter bags last week were a message of hope to them. They know there are people in the community coming around them to help during this tough him. We regularly get comments of gratitude. Together, we are making a difference in the lives of these sweet members of our community. Thank you for all you are doing.

Enjoy the evening, wherever this email finds you,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 54 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 54 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 53 - Day 3