GROCERIES FOR FAMILIES

Supporting families affected by the pandemic with food, hygiene items, and other necessities

Jubilee REACH Communications 9/2/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 9/2/20

Groceries for Families: Week 24 - Day 2

Day 2 of the new program went a little better than day 1, mainly because we ganged up on it with extra staffing in the afternoon. The morning went fine with shoppers coming steadily. There were wonderful conversations with very happy people dropping off groceries. Love that! The afternoon had slightly fewer families than yesterday, and we were a day wiser so did things a little better. Having 4 extra people also made a huge difference. The weather is just awesome right now. Overall, it’s worth calling this a great day.

Groceries today came from Bellevue Christian Reformed, Bellevue Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, St. Louise Parish and Redeemer churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 99 orders came in today, plus the 11 carried over from yesterday. We were able to put together 30 orders from extras and purchasing some items this morning. So, in total, 140 orders were here today and all went out to families today. Even one order for tomorrow showed up late today from someone who can’t come tomorrow. That order went to a woman who had told us she couldn’t come until 5pm. The lobby is bare! Thank you to everyone who donated today. Perfect!

Ed took the Jubilee box truck to Farmer Frog in Woodinville this morning at 8am to get food boxes for today.

This is how we’re currently filling the gap until the new USDA food boxes come on September 22. He brought back 6 pallets (360 boxes) of food. 180 of them were produce. 180 were dairy and meat. It was an amazing feat to get them off the truck. No one was injured!

The crew brought the produce boxes into the lobby and then emptied the dairy & meat from the others into the coolers.

It was a major operation by itself. We didn’t finish until just before 1pm when families came. It looks like this will be the new reality in version 1.5.

A few volunteers has been angels this week in helping with bulk shopping to supplement the food boxes, using money donated to Jubilee for the grocery program. Both yesterday and today, volunteers brought large quantities of eggs, tomatoes and bananas to help round out the food boxes. Another is already scheduled for tomorrow. Thank you!

A volunteer from Covenant Pres brought a cooler of cold beverages and snacks for the staff today. Let me tell you, at 2:15pm when we were all tired, sweaty and still working hard, those were gifts from heaven. Thank you, Chris!

Senior lunches were delivered yesterday to 25 people in the community by Barb and her crew. Barb does an amazing job of home cooking a meal in the Jubilee kitchen each week and adding lots of extras. Thank you!

We are overrun with bags of potatoes and bags of onions here. If anyone has a way to use these, please email back. We need to get creative in finding a way to move these along.+

The food truck is here tonight. Thank you BelPres for sponsoring it. Many people are in the parking lot right now, as this is typed.

This is an email sent to the Jubilee staff from Liz, who works at Jubilee and has served on the grocery crews from the beginning. This is pure poetry and captures incredibly well, I think, what many people feel.

Hi all,

Today I was staring out my office window as I zoned out for a minute from monotonously entering donations into our database. I have a second-floor view of the Groceries for Families. I saw two women talking on the lawn and families loading cars with fresh food. I saw Ken in his neon vest balancing two boxes and a grocery bag on the way to someone’s car. I saw feet shuffling in line under the carport. I saw vehicles pulling in and out of the parking lot – coming and going from the rest of their complex, busy, beautiful, and lives.

Then it dawned on me just how incredible it is that I get to be at this intersection of real community. One person comes in the morning with their groceries. In the afternoon, it’s their neighbors, coworkers, fellow parents of BSD students who receive these groceries. But it’s not a one-way transaction.

I’ve seen our neighbors’ artwork on cards going into bags of groceries. And I’ve seen the artwork of kids who eat those groceries line our walls in the center. I’ve eaten the delicious rice pudding that afternoon families have made. And I’ve eaten one too many donuts that families have dropped off for us staff in the morning. Families on both sides of the program have shared how they loving talking with people when they come to Jubilee – they have a sense of community here.

I’m not just entering numbers into a database. I’m standing at this intersection of community. I get to connect the generosity of our community with the lives of real people around me. And I get to witness and partake in the various forms of gratitude and generosity families reciprocate. It’s a beautiful thing to have a job like this, and I’m thankful to work with you all and thankful for the joy and diligence each of you brings to the table. Keep up the good work in whatever you are doing – It matters.

With gratitude,
Liz Meyer
Investor Relations Coordinator

Thanks for a great day. All the love you all pour into this program through your time, treasure, and energy is passed along to families every day. The crew is very aware they are being ‘sent’ by you. May this daily email bring you closer to those who you are supporting in this community we all call home.

Blessings to you all,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Jubilee REACH Communications 9/1/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 9/1/20

Groceries for Families: Week 24 - Day 1

V2 begins! Well, really it is V1.5 for now, but still. Thanks for continuing the journey and following along on this email. Today picked up where Saturday left off, but with a number of changes. The new orders came in all morning long and looked just great. There many favorable comments about the ease of the new shopping list and how stocking up is helpful. Awesome! There were many new faces, too, which is wonderful to see. Thank you, everyone! The afternoon went well but was very challenging for the crew and families. Details are below. Anytime something new is started, it is difficult and slow. That was today. But, we are through day 1 and will make changes constantly to get better.

Groceries today came from Bellevue Christian Reformed, Bellevue Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Cornerstone, Creekside Covenant, Westminster Chapel, Evangelical Chinese, Covenant Presbyterian, and Victory Court churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 140 orders came in today. We had been saving the shopping list items for a few weeks leading up to today, so yesterday made 34 extra orders. So, there were 174 orders ready today. All but 11 went out to families today. Thank you to everyone who participated! Wow!

As you have read, the expected USDA food boxes are delayed until September 22. Late last week's plans started to fall into place about how enough perishable foods would be found. Over the weekend, more came into focus. Yesterday, more still came to light. This morning, all of it merged at Jubilee. It allowed the crew to create food boxes which included milk, cheese, vegetables, fruit, eggs, and meat. Enough frozen meat has been coming in from QFC Crossroads lately, that we were able to provide each family with on package of meat. In fact, we gave families a choice of beef, chicken, or pork. There were even fish available upon request. It worked! Families went away with a very good amount of quality food, which will give them a good start on the week.

This was the hardest day yet for the crew, both physically and emotionally. It was also hard for the families, as the line stretched 30 deep onto the grass from 1:00-3:30pm with no breaks. We carried groceries out to cars for most people, which was very tiring. Emotionally, the crew had to unlearn old habits and start new ones. It will get faster. Everyone was very spent.

The exit lane tables were full with all sorts of extras today. Volunteers delivered from the Safeway Thrashers Corner and QFC Crossroads. Watermelons from Farmer Frog and fresh cantaloupe were very popular with everyone. Thank you everyone who gave extra today.

The food truck will be here tomorrow night, 4-7pm. Cascadia Wood-Fired Pizza. Come!

We’ve invited the School District to refer up to 100 new families to this program. There is clearly a need in the community and the BSD teachers & administrators are in an ideal place to be in a relationship with such families. We hope to see new families showing up each day, so they can be onboarded into the program immediately. We have 4 walk-ins today.

Thank you for your devotion to supporting these families. It matters and it is working! Pray for them, too. It is needed.

Have a great evening,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/29/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/29/20

Groceries for Families: Week 23 - Day 6

The final Saturday of this program was a normal day and flowed right along all morning. Saturdays are unique with one crew handling all the incoming groceries in a quick 90 minutes and then families coming right at 10am. It goes fast. The cool morning felt good and stayed nicely overcast all morning. The sun didn’t come out until later in the afternoon. Families lined up early, seemed to take a break in the middle, and then had a good rush at the end. Overall, it was a very nice day.

Groceries today came from Evangelical Chinese, Victory Court and Bellevue Presbyterian, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 137 orders came in and all went out to families today, including two by delivery. Thank you to everyone who donated today!

The final advance registration day for Version 2 happened in the market area today with Daniel handling the duties. About 30 more people signed up, bringing the total to just over 400 people preregistered. Everyone else will need to register when they show up next week.

This was some heavy-lifting to get all this done over the past six days, so feels very good to have it done.

The exit lane was nice and full today with a variety of foods. We typically use this smaller area for perishable items, so they will go home with families.

The non-perishables haven’t gone out all week, so will make for a nice market next week. Thank you to everyone who gave extras for today.

We invited Pastor Guzman and his wife from El Dios Viviente Methodist Church in Seattle to come this afternoon.

They are caring for 300+ families in his congregation and community.

With this program going quiet until Tuesday, it was a great chance to share whatever food we had available, so they can help others.

This has been a wonderful partnership since the spring. Thank you!

A quick story from Ken:

The wife whose husband receiving treatment for brain tumor was here for groceries today. Someone in the medical profession had offered to help her understand some of the medical reports for her husband, so they met in a private office room this morning. She returned about 2:00pm today with a homemade Iranian dessert, made with pistachios and saffron. Yum! Her husband was with her in the car, so I was able to meet him for this first time. He still has trouble speaking, so the conversation was minimal. But at least we’ve met now. He seems like a very nice man. He’s fortunate to have her caring for him. Their daughter starts school on Thursday. Please continue to pray for this family.

Here’s a fun, quick view of the quantity of bulk ingredients given out this week:

Flour: 75 bags or 188 lbs
Rice: 190 bags or 513 lbs
Beans: 177 bags or 213 lbs
Sugar: 265 bags or 199 lbs
Salt: 169 bags or 51 lbs
Pods: 299 or 5,980 loads of laundry

Here’s a look at totals for all 23 weeks:

Flour: 2,980 bags or 8,235 lbs
Rice: 4,570 bags or 12,339 lbs
Beans: 4,355 bags or 5,226 lbs
Sugar: 5,759 bags or 5,042 lbs
Salt: 4,166 bags or 2,129 lbs
Pods: 3,081 bags or 61,620 loads of laundry

As with each Saturday, here’s a look at statistics to date after 23 weeks:

Calendar Days: 161
Program Days: 138
Families currently in the program: 520+
People in these families: 2340 (approximate)
Families on the waiting list: 0
Grocery orders provided to-date: 23,532
Churches & Organizations engaged: 28
Different shoppers participating: 950 (approximate)

Today marks the last day of week 23 and the last day of the current version of the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Next week begins Version 2, with families coming to Jubilee once per week: Tue, Wed and Thu. This will allow office days on Monday & Friday, with no more weekends. Thank you to all the partners and individuals who have already signed on to continue with Version 2. We are in this together, and it feels so good.

Thank you for all the love poured into these members of our community through this program since the middle of March. It’s been quite a ride and continues to feel like exactly the place we should be together. Thank you, thank you, thank you…a million times…thank you.

This blog summary will continue Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday in V2.

Tomorrow is a day of rest. Be back to you Tuesday.

Have a great weekend,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/28/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/28/20

Groceries for Families Week 23 - Day 5

Our Friends,

As you’ve heard before, Fridays are the peak day for the week in terms of families coming. It is always busy. This makes is a favorite day for the crew, while also knowing we have to work more. Lots of groceries came in this morning, as well as pantry drop offs. Thank you! Families were a steady stream all afternoon, which is wonderful to see.

Our Friends,

Groceries today were provided by Evangelical Chinese, Covenant Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 142 orders came in today and all went out to families today. Thank you to everyone who gave today!

Extra deliveries came in today from Neighbors Feeding Neighbors (thank you, Narima!), Crossroads QFC (thank you, Gill), Holy Cross Lutheran Gardeners, the King County Master Gardeners and someone who had a glorious plum tree with very tasty fruit. Thank you everyone!

Lunches for seniors were provided today by Crossroads Bible Church and delivered by volunteers to 25 seniors in the community. Thank you volunteers and CBC for the lunches over the past 6 weeks!+

More families were registered for next week today. This will make the operation much more efficient starting next week.

The food truck is here tonight. Thank you BelPres for sponsoring dinner for the families.

The crew had a late lunch today on the patio to celebrate finishing V1. It was a lot of fun. Thank you to Barb and her crew for making the tasty meal!

Update on next week:

We learned late Wednesday the expected food boxes from the US Government will be delayed at least a week. This impacts the ‘Groceries for Families’ program, as well as countless others around the country who were counting on this food. The perishable food being counted on won’t be here, so we were instructed to come up with a gap filler. Yesterday, we worked through the options at hand and have decided to purchase the food to provide a bag of dairy, eggs, fruit, vegetables and protein for each family. We shopped the stores and have come up with a good plan to get it done at a decent price.

Additionally, today we made a trip to Farmer Frog in Woodinville to pick up whatever food they had available which could be used next week. We now have 140 food boxes in refrigeration (thank you BelPres for the cooler space!), 4 large bins of watermelon, corn meal flour, coffee from Seattle’s Best and a few other items. This is a start.

By Monday, we will be pulling together the supplies and will continue each morning of Tue, Wed and Thu to pack bags of perishables. We are confident each family will leave with a good amount of food, with a balanced variety. Hopefully, this is a one week delay, but we are concerned it will stretch to two weeks. We will keep you posted.

Currently there are 161 families registered for next Tuesday, 98 for next Wednesday and 107 registered for next Thursday. The Wednesday numbers are low because tomorrow will add to them. We should end the week with about 400 preregistered. This means there are still about 125 families which need to register next week. Once the USDA boxes start coming, we plan to add families from the Bellevue School District very quickly, as we know there is more need out there.

Thank you for sticking with this program the past 5 ½ months. There is one more day remaining in the current program. As we’ve said many times, this feels exactly where we all should be. Thank you for all you’re doing.

Have a great evening,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/27/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/27/20

Groceries for Families: Week 23 - Day 4

After three difficult days with the additional efforts around registering families for Version 2, the crew this afternoon breathed much easier today. The afternoon was very manageable and sustainable, which kept the mood happy and focused. Whew! The morning was great with lots of different groups dropping off groceries in a steady stream. Thursdays are fun with so many people coming. The weather certainly helps everyone; this week is just perfect with cool mornings and warm afternoons.

Groceries today came from Sacred Heart, Bellevue Presbyterian, Overlake Park Presbyterian, First United Methodist, Redeemer, Doxa, and Kalos churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 132 orders came in today and all but 3 went out to families today, including 28 by delivery. The remaining three orders will go out first thing tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who participated today.

We’ve been targeting this day for a few weeks. Because of the change to Version 2 next week, the Thursday families won’t be back to Jubilee until next Thursday, essentially missing a day the other families get.

We’ve been holding as much extra food as possible, so families today could take home as much as possible.

The exit lane tables were full from the beginning and kept full all day.

We told them to take extra, to get them through the next week.

Like every day this week, we ran two lines today. One was the normal line to get groceries. The second was for families to register for Version 2 starting next week. At the end of line 2, they could also get groceries. So the crew, worked the doubleheader all day, which went just fine. The picture attached shows the two endpoints of the lines. Hopefully, most of the Thursday families are now registered.

The weekly delivery from Eastside Baby Corner of diapers came this afternoon. Thank you to this wonderful partner!

Speaking of diapers, lots went out to families today, along with baby wipes. Being only offered once a week, they are a strong motivating factor for families to come at the end of the week. Additionally, bulk foods were offered today: rice, beans, sugar, salt and flour, as well as cooking oil. Thank you to everyone who continues to support this important part of the program.

A few stories from Ken:

We continue to have a few families return to the program, who previously left earlier in the summer. It’s not a large quantity but each week there are a few who show up in line and ask to come back, which is always welcomed. Today, a family returned who left over a month ago. They said it has simply become too difficult financially to support all their needs. There isn’t enough consistent work. Receiving help at Jubilee REACH removes the stress of having enough food and helping their money go to other important needs. This is a very, very common situation. It is the main obstacle to families being self-supportive. In Version 2, we will soon be reaching out to families who have left, just to check in on how they are doing.
You hear regularly about deliveries being made to family homes by members of the crew. There are about 30 families still on the delivery list. There are various reasons: vulnerable members of the family, disability, elderly, no transportation, and others. Daniel has been working with these families for months and has been communicating with them about Version 2, asking them to start coming to Jubilee REACH. It looks like all but 5 will be able to come now, which is wonderful. Daniel will continue to support the specific 5, having gotten to know them personally. He has such a heart for helping people. Other than these, deliveries will halt in V2.

Thank you for another great day in this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. There are still many moving pieces for next week, but it is all moving forward. There are just two more days left in the current operation. There will be a crew luncheon after tomorrow’s operation to celebrate. Thank you for all you’re doing to help these families in our community.

Enjoy the evening, wherever this email finds you,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/26/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/26/20

Groceries for Families: Week 23 - Day 3

Today was Day 3 of re-registering the families for Version 2 next week and should be the last really big push. We learned from the past two days, so made a few adjustments to make today a bit better. Still, it was disruptive enough to the regular afternoon operation, to make it a difficult time for both the families and staff. It’s good to be past it. The morning was very busy with incoming deliveries, including quite a few from online orders. The afternoon didn’t fully wrap up until 3:40pm when the last family finished registering. Long day, for sure, but feels good.

Groceries today were provided by Highland Covenant, Bellevue Christian Reformed, St. Louise, Crossroads Bible, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 125 orders came in and all went out to families today. Thank you to everyone who participated today.

Lots of extras came in today from different places. Grocery shoppers including a variety of extras. Gardeners from the area dropped off freshly picked fruit and vegetables. A volunteer brought a donation from the QFC Crossroads. It made for a nice assortment for families to choose from. Thank you to everyone who gave!

Today was the last day for hygiene items to be offered this week. The crew and volunteers flipped the whole lobby to be ready for tomorrow with diapers and bulk foods. It looks great! Thank you to everyone who helped stock the pantry.

A food truck will be at Jubilee REACH this Friday from 4-7pm. It will be Greek food from Athena’s. Plan to come!

A personal story from Ken today:

I carried groceries out to a car today for a woman whom I’ve not met personally before. As we walked across the parking lot, we chatted about our families. She was quite somber and shared her mom is dealing with breast cancer in Mexico. She is very concerned about her, saying the Covid crisis has made it even harder. She had to stay in the hospital longer and have extra precautions at home. Her heart hurts that she can’t be with her right now. The speak daily on video chat. This is just an example of real life happening, despite the Covid crisis. It felt good that she was comfortable enough with me to share this private news. Please join me in praying for her and her mom.
More food was delivered to the crew yesterday and today, as a thank you from families. One woman brought beans and rice with milk, both staples in Mexico (Daniel tells me). Another group Mexican flan: vanilla, corn and Neapolitan. Another brought Mexican jello. Another brought Mexican cheesecake. Wow! A lot of love was poured into these dishes. Let me tell you…Mexican jello is fantastic!

Re-registration of families continued today in the market area and finished with 95 more ready for next week.

We offered some families who were having to wait, that they could register on Saturday. No one took us up on this.

There is strong motivation to get registered and a spot in V2 confirmed.

Everyone was very patient and made the best of it.

Thank you for another great day in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. The week is half over. There are just three more days left in the current version of the program. Thanks for all your doing to care for these dear families in our community. It’s working, and it matters.

Have a great evening,

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH
On behalf of the Jubilee family

Groceries for Families began in March 2020 to serve families financially affected by the pandemic. Over 25 organizations and churches have partnered with Jubilee REACH to provide families with groceries, hygiene items, and supplies.

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