May 12, 2021

Mid-way through the week and things are humming right along. The morning today was cloudy and cool, with even some light sprinkles of rain at times. About noon, the sun came through for good and gave us a lovely warm afternoon. Even a slight breeze kept the warm air moving. Nice. Wednesdays are always busy in the morning with lots and lots of people dropping off groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Thank you, everyone. The afternoon was equally busy with families. The line was modest to open, but it kept up all afternoon. Many people came right at the end and even later. For sure, their lives are busy with all sorts of things.

Groceries today were provided by Newport Covenant, Indian Fellowship, 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, St. Louise, Bellevue Presbyterian, Calvary Chapel Eastside, and Crossroads Bible churches, as well as the Rotary Club of Bellevue, Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 240 orders came in today and all went out to families. Thank you to all who donated!

The AM crew was primarily from Bellevue Presbyterian Church today. It was a good mix of new volunteers and veterans to the shift. Food boxes arrived at about 11:15am, so they were able to pack one pallet with fresh produce. They did a great job received all the deliveries and organizing things for the afternoon shift. Thank you, and well done, crew!

The food boxes were delivered by the Medosweet Transportation Director, who is our main contact but typically by email. It was great to see him here in person. He was surprised and so pleased to get a quick tour of the full operation, including how their boxes fit in. He said people are in their Kent warehouse by 4am to pack boxes, and they don’t stop the assembly line until 8pm. It is a major operation, and they are quite a small company. They will go back to dairy only on June 1, which makes him a little sad. They’ve been a great partner for us and many others in this area.

A few updates and stories:

Samira is the woman profiled last week who brought us Ethiopian sweet bread as a thank you. She and her friend were here today for the last time, so made a point to say goodbye and thank you. They are getting enough support from other places and are seeing things improve for their families, that they don’t need to come to Jubilee any longer. They both expressed such thanks for the help their families have received. We all wished them well. It is great to have such book-ends for some people.

A homeless man showed up in the middle of the operation this afternoon, poking around and asking what was going on. This has happened before and usually ends with us giving some food or the person leaving upset that they can’t get what they want. This man wasn’t interested in being patient for us to help and found any questions directed at him to be irritating. Fortunately, this exchange didn’t end in a scene, but he ended up storming off. It’s a tough situation when this happens with so many other people around. While we want to help, our first responsibility is the safety of everyone here.

An elder Asian woman came late today, not part of the program. She didn’t speak English or Spanish, and we had no one who spoke Cantonese. Trenton noticed a woman leaving with groceries who was Asian, so asked if she happened to speak Cantonese, which she did. She kindly came back and translated as we registered her for the waiting list. It made a nearly impossible situation very pleasant, and the woman went home with food for her family. Love that!

Angelina brought the crew a lunch of chicken enchiladas today. This lady can flat out cook good food! Lucky us.

Maria brought the crew a chicken soup for tomorrow’s lunch. She is still recovering from knee surgery and had just come from PT, so was in some pain. She has two more weeks before the pain should subside. We prayed for her through the car window.

Jessica has been in this email before. She comes Wednesdays and is always near the front of the line. She is in her mid-50’s and cares for her 82-year-old mom, 92-year-old mother-in-law, and 65-year-old husband. She carries a huge burden. Today, she came early asking to get her groceries in the morning. Her mom’s health is very poor and they needed to go to the doctor. She was clearly worried and not her happy self. We were able to pray for her. She gave a big hug and said how much she loves us all. There is a deep connection here with her. Please pray for them all.

We’re pleased to provide you an update on ‘Groceries for Families’ and the transition coming from the current phase 2 to phase 3, beginning in July. Attached is the letter (English & Spanish) which is being given to families, beginning yesterday. In it, you’ll read we are clearly anticipating a change in the program, yet fully inviting all families who continue to need support to stay in a relationship with us. Through these relational conversations, we expect the structure and scope of the next phase to become clearer by June 11. Additional details are being shared with the primary contacts of all participating partners.

Thank you for another great day of ‘Groceries for Families’. Together we are supporting our literal neighbors in this community. Thank you for all you are doing.

Blessings to you all,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 59 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 59 - Day 3

Groceries for Families: Week 59 - Day 1