GROCERIES FOR FAMILIES

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 12/9/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 12/9/20

Groceries for Families: Week 37 - Day 2

You may recall last Wednesday had 40-50 families not come, so we entered today cautiously wondering what would happen. Happily, numbers were back to normal. Whew! Last week hopefully was a one-time occurrence. The line for families was full all afternoon. The morning was busy with people bringing groceries and pantry items in steady waves. It’s so great to see so many happy faces. The weather was better today, with just a touch of rain and no wind. The temperature was cold in the morning but the hands warmed up in the afternoon.

Groceries today were provided by Rotary Club of Bellevue, Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club and the Jubilee Friends group, as well as 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Victory Court, Bellevue Presbyterian, Calvary Chapel Eastside, Crossroads Bible, Newport Covenant, Indian Fellowship and St. Louise churches. A total of 243 groceries came in today, which is about 40 more than expected. Wow, thank you for the extra orders. All but 25 went out to families today. Thank you to everyone who donated today. So great!

We picked up purchased produce at Cash & Carry at 7:00am. The food box delivery came at 7:45am. The delivery of eggs came from Costco at 8:15. By 8:30am, all the food was in place. That has never happened so fast! It sure made the rest of the morning easier to plan.

The AM volunteer crew today came from Bellevue Presbyterian. They were busy, busy all morning with groceries and incoming pantry items. They packed the food boxes and got the operation read to go for the afternoon. Thank you, crew!

The International School in Bellevue did their 2nd of 3 drives today for the grocery program. A crew brought over two carloads of food and pantry items this afternoon. Thank you, International!

The PTSA at Spiritridge Elementary did their 1st of 2 drives today for the grocery program. Their crew also brought over two carloads of food and pantry items this afternoon. Thank you, Spiritridge PTSA!

An email from a shopper:

“I want to tell you about what being able to fill a sack of groceries for some unknown family means to me.. I think of that family that will open my sack and see what I have purchased for them.. My entire body fills with happiness.. I can write a check but buying the groceries and bringing my sack makes the effort and project real.. I am so happy I can be part of this.”

An email from a family:

“Many thanks for the food, we are very grateful, thanks to you, we have to eat, we don't have work, thank God and you, Happy Holidays!”

Thanks for another great day in ‘Groceries for Families’. Hopefully, this email helps keep you connected to what is happening here. There are so many good things to share, as well as the desire to just paint the picture of the daily operation. Two friends came late today to pick up groceries after the main operation finished. One hadn’t come in a few weeks. He was very quiet and very respectful. He simply said, “This food is so good. I don’t have any more at home, so need it. Thank you.” We don’t know his full story. Yet, hearing this is enough to rejoice that he has this place to come to and receive food, as well as hope. Thank you for helping make that possible.

Blessings to you all in this holiday season,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 12/8/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 12/8/20

Groceries for Families: Week 37 - Day 1

We begin week 15 of ‘Version 2’ (week 37 from the very beginning) of ‘Groceries for Families’ on a very good note. Today was busy, busy, busy from the start to finish. Shoppers started arriving by 7:30am and where a steady stream in the parking lot all morning. Lots of groceries and pantry items were delivered today. Thank you! Families didn’t come early because of the rain, but there was a steady line all afternoon. The rain was a constant mist all day, which didn’t matter much unless the wind kicked up. So it is for Seattle winter weather. Oh well.

Groceries today were provided by the Bellevue Kiwanis Club and the Jubilee Friends group, as well as Cornerstone Fellowship, Westminster Chapel, Creekside Covenant, Awakening, Covenant Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, East Shore Unitarian and Evangelical Chinese churches. A total of 191 orders came in today and all went out to families, along with an additional 32 orders which carried over from last week. We delivered 8 orders to the homes of families. Thank you to everyone who gave today. Wow, what a great day!

The AM volunteer crew came from Westminster Chapel this morning. This crew worked very hard to receive all the groceries, process them, and get them ready for the afternoon. They also packed about half the food boxes. They had a great time. Thank you crew!

Food boxes from the USDA arrived this morning at 9:00am, which is early. Four pallets were dropped in the corner area of the covered patio by Medosweet Farms. These boxes contain some vegetables, dairy items, milk, and chicken. We purchase additional fresh vegetables each morning to add, giving families a very balanced and healthy box.

Fresh produce arrived yesterday from Cascadia Produce as part of a King County grant which allows us to purchase fresh produce directly from King County farms. Some of it is for senior citizens in the community, which we offer by staging an open market each Monday afternoon and inviting many people. It is very popular. More is delivered with senior lunches on Tuesdays. The rest of the produce is for general families. This week we received leeks, cilantro, basil, cabbage, Brussel sprouts, red beets, collard greens, and lettuce. The grants will run through December.

Barb and her crew delivered 27 lunches to senior citizens in the community today. These same people received fresh Christmas wreaths last week and repeated their thanks to the crew this morning. All of them love the joy brought by having a wreath on their front door.

A dedicated crew of three men has engineered and built the gutter system under the main canopies to keep everyone dry. Both Friday and Monday had them here for many hours working on it. Today was the first test. One of them came back this morning to check it out and fix a few things. It worked great all day. We are dry! Thank you, Jeff, Charlie, and Dan.

Looking ahead, the USDA program called “Farms to Families” will run out on December 31. This is currently where we get the perishable box of food each day. It is unclear whether the program will be extended at all and, if it does, when the new version would start. If it does not renew, we will need to figure out how to provide these foods in other ways. If it does renew, it is very likely there will be a gap of multiple weeks for us to bridge.

There is money in the new federal spending plan being discussed right now in Congress for this program. Yet it is not clear if it will actually be utilized, even if the bill passes. We will watch and see.

We’d like to ask for your prayers and discernment, as we do the same, seeking the path forward in January. Please reply back with any ideas. Thank you. More details to come.

We begin this week with 695 families in the GFF program. Last week 11 new families were added, including 9 from the waiting list. Two families were removed from the program. There are 75 families on our watch list. This is an increase from last week, when we had a larger the normal no-show amount of families. We are still trying to figure out why they didn’t come on Wed and Thu.

Thank you for another great day in ‘Groceries for Families’. The canopy area outside is looking very festive, with the lights and newly added balls & decorations. Come see it, if you haven’t yet. Seeing it at night is the best. We want the families to feel joy in this season, while they are here. We get many comments from families, so hopefully, this is working.

Have a great evening,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 12/3/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 12/3/20

Groceries for Families: Week 36 - Day 3

This week ends on a perplexing note, with the second day in a row having below normal attendance for families. Like yesterday, at least 35 families more than normal didn’t come today. This is much more than seen before and was very apparent at the pace of the day. We aren’t sure of the exact reason. We won’t overreact, as it isn’t a trend yet, but will definitely watch it closely. Besides this, the day was another lovely one in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Lots of shoppers came all morning with groceries, pantry items, and hygiene items. The weather was overcast but still dry, yet the cold never did go away today.

Groceries today came from the Champions Foundation, Rotary Bellevue Sunrise Club, and the Jubilee Friends group, as well as Bellevue Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, Highland Covenant, First United Methodist, Doxa, Sacred Heart School & Parish, and Lighthouse churches. A total of 186 orders came in today and all but 31 went out to families. The remaining will be held over for Tuesday. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

Yesterday, the International School in Bellevue delivered a load of pantry and hygiene items from a drive done at their school. They did a great job of engaging their community to support the grocery program. They will be doing two more in the coming weeks, too. Thank you, Arty and your crew!

Yesterday, we also went to Farmer Frog in Woodinville to pick up 100 extra food boxes of perishable items. The 192 delivered daily just hasn’t been enough, so we’re proactively getting a bit more each week so we don’t run out. Thank you, Ed, for the pick-up and delivery!

The AM crew were volunteers from Bellevue Christian Reformed Church. They worked hard to receive all the groceries and building the food boxes. Lots were happening here today. Thank you BCRC crew!

Crossroads Bible Church has been donating about 700 pounds of rice and 500 pounds of beans a week in November and December. This gets portioned out into individual bags by volunteers for the families. Today, Ed picked up a load at CBC and the BCRC volunteers unloaded it at Jubilee. Thank you, CBC for these generous and meaningful donations!

Eastside Baby Corner donated diapers today, which has been a weekly blessing since the spring. This is a wonderful partner in Issaquah which has helped support the families each week. Thank you, EBC, and thank you Theresa for picking up!

Pastor Gerardo from El Dios Viviente Methodist Church in White Center, Seattle came today at 4:00pm. We have been in partnership with him since the spring, as he supports his congregation and community through food. Together, we are supporting 300 additional families there. Today, volunteers loaded his van with lots of fresh produce, extra food boxes, and more. Thank you, Gerardo!

A story from today, told by Ken:

About 2:00pm, a woman from one of the families asked to speak to me, so we gathered just inside the doors. Her name is Nan, and her family has been in the program since September, coming on Tuesdays. She lives nearby with her husband, mother, 9-year-old son, and 3-year-old daughter, who was with her today. She and her mom have been sewing faces masks, and she wanted to provide some to the crew as gifts. Having only come on Tuesdays, she noticed today’s crew were different people, so quickly acknowledged she didn’t bring enough masks for everyone. As she handed me the 10 beautifully wrapped masks, she pointed out a ‘sticky-note’ thank you note written by her son. (A scan of the five small notes is attached.) She said she had been wanting to send a full thank you email for some time but not gotten to it yet. Her family wanted to thank everyone for the food support these past three months. As she began to talk, she began to cry, and it was clear her thank you was going to be much deeper. As she spoke through the tears very clearly, she shook her head in amazement at the incredible care and support her family has received. The food they receive has sustained them and made a horrible situation tolerable and even a bit normal. She shared her joy that the food they receive is actually fresh, nutritious, balanced, and normal food they would get themselves. She remains stunned each week at the quality, as she would normally have expected low quality, expiring food only. Her tears flowed as she continued by saying that not only do they receive such wonderful food, but they also receive diapers, hygiene items, cleaning items, and more. How can this be!? They need these things and can’t believe they are provided. She expressed incredible gratitude that the staff continues to serve every week, despite the incredible personal risk the staff faces. How can this staff come to serve people they don’t even know while putting themselves in harm’s way? She knows we all have families and lives of our own. That people would do this is unbelievable. Beyond this, the staff does it will joy and happiness, quickly pointing to Maggie dancing and singing nearby to the music, to make her point. To know people in this community are giving so much to support her family and many others is so very hard to understand. She expressed their deep, deep gratitude. Life is very, very hard, and what they get at Jubilee is life-giving. She loves coming to Jubilee each week. It is a safe place, and it feels so good to come here. She finds happiness and hope and feels cared for by real people.

It was all I could do to stand there and listen, without reaching out to embrace her in love. She poured out her heart to me (& you) through tears and a very steady voice. In minutes, she summarized exactly why this program exists and echoed back what it can do. Wow.

Nan was born in San Diego and moved to Seattle 20 years ago. Her parents are from Acapulco, Mexico. In January, a very close friend was deported, which shattered the family. The woman’s 6 months old baby came to live with them and has mostly remained since. She doesn’t know when the woman and her baby will be reunited. Life is so very hard.

Please receive all of her love and thanks, as we (all of us together) are impacting her family through this program. Thank you.

Hopefully, this sweet story and testimony grab your heart. There are many more out there just like it. This program is special, unique and so very necessary right now. Where else should we all be, if not here? What else should we all be doing, if not this? This is exactly where we are called to be. Thank you for being a part of it.

Bless you all,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 12/2/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 12/2/20

Groceries for Families: Week 36 - Day 2

Early this morning had frost in the air and a cold which needed gloves. By mid-morning, the chill was gone enough to remove gloves. By noon it was a nice spring day and the jackets came off. How nice! Everyone seemed to enjoy this rare December day of some mild warmth. With lots of activity around this place, it was the perfect weather to make it all go a bit easier.

Groceries today were provided by Victory Court, Indian Fellowship, Crossroads Bible, 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, St. Louise, Calvary Chapel Eastside, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Newport Covenant churches, as well as the Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, the Rotary Club of Bellevue and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 226 orders came in, which is about 40 more than expected. Wow, thank you! The number of families today was about 35 lower than normal, which is puzzling. About 165 orders went out today, including 6 by delivery. We’re not sure why the numbers were low…perhaps the lovely afternoon weather. This leaves us a large reserve of groceries to begin tomorrow, which is absolutely fine. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

We are welcoming Champions Foundation as a new partner bringing groceries now on Thursdays. They have long been a Jubilee partner on the Jubilee Service Day. Welcome!

The food boxes were delivered early today at 8:30am, which worked out fine with it being so cold out. They were kept very fresh on the patio, waiting for volunteers to pack them with fresh produce. The AM volunteer crew today came from Bellevue Presbyterian Church. It was busy, busy for this crew, and they managed it all very well. Thank you, crew.

A second AM volunteer crew for today was added late yesterday to handle the incoming diaper delivery. In early November, a large order of diapers was placed with a wholesaler through donations from churches, organizations, and individuals. It arrived in a large truck this morning at 9:30am, which quickly unloaded 10 pallets into the parking lot.

The crew had them all inside the diaper room within an hour. Wow! This large purchase has quickly stabilized the inventory for all diaper sizes, except #6, which wasn’t available through the wholesaler. This past month has been very tight with diaper inventory. Thank you to everyone who stepped in to fill the gap. Not once did we run out of any sizes. Thank you to the donors and to the volunteer crew today.

Speaking of volunteers, today was the largest amount of volunteers here on any single day. There were two from 7:30-9:00am. There were eight from 9:00am-12:15pm. There were six from 9:30-11:00am. There were three from 12:30-3:30pm. There were eight from 3:30-5:00pm. That is a total of 27. This program could not operate with you all. Thank you to all the many volunteers who serve here.

Here's a quick highlight of pets. Many of you continue to give dog food, cat food, and cat litter to fill the pantry. These essentials are very, very popular with families with such pets. They allow people to not have to choose between keeping their pets and paying for other things. A large delivery came in today, which was quickly portioned out by volunteers. See the picture above. Thank you to all of you who support this special part of the program.

A quick update on one family:

Since June, we have been following a family who’s husband has been battling a brain tumor for the 2nd time. The wife was here today, and we were able to talk so she could provide an update. Too often, it is too crowded for us to talk in private, but today we managed. She has a constant expression of grief and fear, so it was clear things have not improved. Her husband continues to receive weekly chemo at Overlake but is not improving. He has recently lost his ability to talk, which is very frustrating and scary. Their teenage daughter mostly stays in her room, which seems to be her escape. When asked if she needs anything, she simply said, “I need my husband back.” Please pray for this family. She is carrying so much of a burden right now. Pray for her ability to sustain herself and find rest. Life is very hard for them…plus the pandemic.

Lunch was brought to the crew today by Maria again. This abuela is a master cook and today brought delicious chicken soup. We are spoiled. She passes on her thanks and love through her cooking.

Thank you for all you are doing to support these families. You should know there is extreme gratitude from all of them. We see it daily in their eyes and with many heartfelt comments of thanks. We receive this and pass it on to all of you. Most of them have no idea how all this food and provision reaches them, but they are grateful for it all the same. Thank you! Please keep going. It is working.

Have a wonderful evening, wherever this entry finds you.

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 12/1/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 12/1/20

Groceries for Families: Week 36 - Day 1

How can it possibly be December? Wow, that seems unbelievable. The weather sure felt less December-like with a sunny but cold day. Of the three (wind, rain, or cold), we would take cold any day over the other two. The combo of wind and rain is the worst. No complaints today. We begin week 14 of V2 of GFF on a very positive note. Lots of great things are happening in this program. Shoppers streamed in all morning with deliveries of groceries and pantry items. It is quite overwhelming to see the continual support from the community each day. Thank you! Families came all afternoon and seemed to be in very good spirits today. It was a very typical day in GFF – smooth and wonderful.

Groceries today were provided by Awakening, Covenant Presbyterian, Evangelical Chinese, East Shore Unitarian, Westminster Chapel, Creekside Covenant, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, Crossroads Bible and Cornerstone Fellowship churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 209 orders came in and all went out to families today. Thank you to everyone who donated today.

The AM crew was from Crossroads Bible Church this morning. It was busy, and they worked hard. There was a lot to organize and get ready for the afternoon. The fellas just kept moving forward and got it done. Thank you, CBC crew!

Lots of great food was here today to compliment the groceries. Food boxes came from the USDA, arriving about 10:30am. Volunteers brought donations from Safeway Thrashers Corner in Bothell. Volunteers brought donations from Crossroads QFC. Volunteers brought donations from Safeway Redmond via Renewal Food Bank. Produce from King County farms came via the grant, delivered by Cascadia Produce. It’s so great to give such a variety to families. Thank you everyone.

Lunches were delivered to 25 senior citizens in the community by Barb (Hospitality Manager at Jubilee) and her crew. A special addition was provided by a generous donor today. Each household (15) was given a Christmas wreath and a door hanger for the front door. Barb said it caught people by surprise and gave instant joy to all. What a great way to start the season! Thank you!

An email from a family today:

I want to thank you for your great help that you have given us in this pandemic, my family and I are very grateful for the food, for the hygienic products, for making you very happy with sweets on Halloween, and because we feel that we are not alone at this time. so difficult, I don't have a job and my husband earns very little but thanks to your help we can feel more at ease because there is always food in our home, I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart and may God bless you very much.

An email received from a family who was able to be helped by the Jubilee Elves Christmas program:

I am very worried about my children this Christmas, I did not find any place where they will support me to give them gifts at Christmas. I had registered in a place but my husband did not want to give a copy of his identification, he says no. I have a problem with my address for a year when I had to return with my husband after I was living in a shelter with my children and the agency put us out of the Shelter and they never helped us as promised nor to make the transition to a house or anything, it was a very sad experience, and I do not have my valid identification because the one I renew never arrived because the post office ignored helping me to have my address again, where I have lived for a year. In the past days, I wrote a text to Bellevue Lifespring asking for Christmas help but they tell me that my children's school did not give them my information and being that we need a lot the help and the social worker knows it. My husband had told me that maybe I could buy them something but his only old car's brakes just broke down and he say me I am sorry for Christmas. I don't have a job and I'm 100 percent dependent on him. I just want to ask you please if you could help me so that my children do not run out of Christmas, they have not asked much and it has been a very difficult year, I just wanted to make them happy, God bless you and thank you very much! 🙏🏻 Thank you a lot and greetings

We begin this week with 686 families in the program and another 40 on the waiting list. Last week, 1 new family was added and 11 were removed. There are 56 families on the “watch list”, which means they aren’t coming regularly and may be removed. We communicate with them to try and learn why they can’t come. We made the decision yesterday to invite the first 14 families on the waiting list to enter the program formally. If they do, we’ll be back to 700 families in the program.

Some of you have asked for more details about the waiting list, as we’ve capped the program at 700 families currently. Here are the details of what happens. When a new family comes to inquire about the grocery program, we ask them to come back at 3:15pm Tue, Wed or Thu. At that time, anyone needing food help is registered onto the waiting list and given an orange identification card. Families in the full program have a white program. The card allows them to come for food once each week on a set day at 3:15pm. Upon receiving the card and each week they return, they are provided a USDA food box, milk and permitted a full trip through the market. We are getting extra food boxes weekly to account for these extra families and so far, have had enough. There are a few things they do not receive: a non-perishable grocery bag, a pantry/hygiene bag with such things as diapers. This is the one major difference, as well as coming at the end of each day. It is a good system and is working well. We hope to bring families into the program as quickly as space allows. No matter what, we want to make sure these families are given food, as well as welcomed as important members of this community.

Thank you for another great day,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 11/25/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 11/25/20

Groceries for Families: Week 35 - Day 3

All week it has felt like a day off because we started serving families on Monday. So today feels like Thursday. It’s funny to have the brain just can’t adjust fast enough. Yet, Wednesday went very smoothly and was another great day. We were missing about 25 families today, which must be due to the holiday. That certainly made the day easier and finish earlier. People are excited for Thanksgiving, which was fun today. The morning was full of many shoppers coming with groceries and pantry items. The weather was cold all day but the rain didn’t come until 5:00pm when a storm blew through for about 10 minute

Groceries today were provided by Indian Fellowship, 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, St. Louise, Newport Covenant, Bellevue Presbyterian, Crossroads Bible, and Calvary Chapel Eastside churches, as well as the Rotary Club of Bellevue, Bellevue Breakfast Rotary Club, and the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 194 orders came which were expected today. Another 15 came today which had been expected yesterday. Another 23 were brought as extra orders by shoppers today, reacting to the shortage from yesterday. So we had 232 orders here! Wow! With the lower family numbers, we gave out 168 orders today. That leaves 64 orders to utilize next week, which is fantastic! Thank you to everyone who gave today. A special thank you to everyone who gave the extra orders.

The AM volunteer crew today was from Bellevue Presbyterian Church. This crew of 8 worked hard receiving the grocery orders, sorting pantry items, packing food boxes, and more. They had a lot of fun and went away with a deeper heart connection to this grocery program. Thank you, crew!

A donation came this morning from a local group that had extra Thanksgiving bags. We received about 25 bags with all these fixings for a Thanksgiving dinner, including turkey breast or ham. Wow! The crew gave one to each family today with 7 or more members in the family. Families were very happy to receive this just in time for Thanksgiving. Thank you, James and Kai.

An email from a family:

Dear friends, I am one of the beneficiaries of your donated project. I went to Jubilee Reach and received milk, bread, fresh vegetables, drinks, snacks, etc. These things are very helpful to my family under the current economic situation, and I don't have to worry about my children going hungry. Your love brings us warmth and hope. Thank you very much for your generosity and love. My words cannot express my gratitude. May God bless you.

A note from a family:

Thank you so much for all your help. It has been a blessing for my house, for we have no way to pay it back. We are thankful for the help God provides to keep us healthy. May God give to you health and life. Again, thanks for the help, and have a happy thanksgiving.

We end this short week on a very good note. We will offer a quick market on Friday afternoon of many different non-perishables and other items which can’t go out on a normal busy day. Hopefully, with kids off from school, more families will be able to come to take advantage of this. Thank you to everyone who has been donating these extra items.

Someone asked today how they can best pray for Jubilee and this program:

Pray for the families. Their lives remain very hard.
Pray the families to feel loved, seen, cared for, and find a place of sanctuary, community, and belonging here, as well as leave each day with a feeling of hope.
Pray for the sustainability of this program. There is fatigue on all sides: shoppers, families, staff. May there remain energy and passion to continue each day.
Pray that the virus stays out of the Jubilee building.
Pray that we are making wise decisions and paying attention to where we all should be going as this adventure continues.
Pray that the hidden needs within this program be met.
Just pray

With 700 families in the program, it takes us all pulling in the same direction to make it happen. Thank you all you are doing.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Ken Carpenter
Director- Community Care, 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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