May 18, 2021

We begin week 60 of ‘Groceries for Families’ with a sudden return to cold spring weather and yet another smooth day in the operation. The cold brought long pants and jackets back, which was hard to do after such a lovely weekend. A chilly breeze kept up all morning, holding the temperature down. Right about noon the wind quit, the sun came out and the afternoon turned to warm & pleasant. The morning was a steady flow of happy people dropping off all sorts of groceries, pantry, and hygiene items. Thank you, everyone! The afternoon was a steady but calm flow of families from start to finish. By the end, attendance numbers were very normal for a Tuesday. It was a lovely day here.

Groceries today were provided by St. Madeleine Sophie, Cornerstone Fellowship, Westminster Chapel, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Christian Reformed, East Shore Unitarian, Creekside Covenant, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Covenant Presbyterian churches, as well as Bellevue Kiwanis and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 165 orders came in today and all went out to families, along with 12 carried over from last week. Thank you to all who donated today.

Food boxes arrived right on time at 11:00am today. The AM crew did a great job of quickly icing and wrapping them in insulating blankets, as well as packing one whole pallet with fresh produce. This is the second to last week for the USDA boxes, with next Thursday being our last day to receive them. You can read about the end of the national program here: https://www.ams.usda.gov/selling-food-to-usda/farmers-to-families-food-box. We are prepared to provide meat for all the families (freezers are full!) for the month of June and will be asking shoppers to help with milk, much like we did back in January. Stay tuned for more communication.

At the beginning of each week, food comes from a number of grocery stores, delivered by volunteers, which we want to acknowledge and thank here: Jerry from Target Factoria; Rick from Amazon Go Overlake; Dale & Kathy from Safeway Thrasher’s Corner; Mike, Gil & Kyle from QFC Crossroads; Fred from Whole Foods Bellevue; Bob & Duanne via Renewal Food Bank from Safeway Overlake (including lots of flowers!); Gil & Mike from a Local Distributor; Fred from Trader Joes Overlake. This food fills the market daily and adds a nice variety & choice for families. Thank you!

Senior lunches went out to 32 people in the community today. A very tasty lunch of Tex-Mex Meatballs with an Adobe Sauce, joined by Rice Pilaf was cooked up by Barb. Her team of Gina and Theresa delivered it all around the city late this morning. Thank you, ladies!

A few stories and updates:

You may recall the sweet picture delivered by a 9-year-old last Tuesday. Today, the mom came by herself. We told her the picture was hanging on the ‘wall of fame in the lobby. She hadn’t been allowed to see the picture when her daughter drew it, so had no idea what it looked like. We took her inside to see it, and she was so proud to see the message written by her daughter. She took a picture to save it. Very sweet.

One of the families which came last Friday to talk about the next version shared their story. Their family of four was quite stable before the pandemic and never had received help from anywhere. The husband lost his job in March 2020 and has not recovered yet. They have an autistic child, which has put a lot of pressure on them with the school. They’ve been forced to utilize credit cards to survive, knowing it will be difficult to recover later. But they have no other choice. The food and pantry items from Jubilee have been a huge blessing to them. They’re asking to receive further help after July 1.

Only 14 families have come to talk to us about the next GFF version so far. We will repeat all the communication this week, with Daniel greeting every family in person with a verbal and written explanation of what is changing. We expect many more to come. Of the 14, all but one had an incredibly touching story highlighting their level of need. They all expressed such gratitude for the support for so long. The variety of food, including fresh foods, is important to them. The diapers are a tremendous gift, as are all the essential items provided.

We begin this week with 655 families in ‘Groceries for Families’ and another 34 on the waiting list. We’re not yet sure if we’ll admit the full waiting list one more time or not. At 655, it is down from 669 last week and down about 100 from the peak back in February. It has been slowly trending downward ever since.

Please continue to pray for this program, especially as things begin to transition in the coming weeks. There are many moving pieces and many things not yet known. We want to listen to families and pay attention to doors which open, especially those we are not expecting. We’re excited for the next phase in July, and the bridge to getting there is just starting. Your prayers make all the difference. Thank you.

As this email ends, the rain has returned. What a fun day of weather.

Have a great evening,

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

Groceries for Families: Week 60 - Day 1

Groceries for Families: Week 60 - Day 2

Groceries for Families: Week 59 - Day 3