Groceries for Families: Week 3 - Day 2

April 7, 2020

It’s amazing how good the sunshine feels and helps the mood of everyone here at Jubilee.  Families today were talking about how the warmth of the sun feels, and then how cool it was when they were in line in the shade.

Groceries were delivered today by Crossroad Bible, Creekside Covenant and Cornerstone Fellowship churches.  A count of 100 families were expected, which is the highest ever on a single day so far in this program.  This included 30 new families just off the waiting list.  Despite the higher volume, the operation ran very smoothly.  The Jubilee staff has all now served multiple times, so is dialed into the details.

Lots of personal hygiene items and diapers were given out today to families.  Today also was a large delivery day for so many people donating these same items.  It’s no longer novel to me when I find bundles of donated items suddenly appearing near my office.  They show up all the time, and I’m so grateful to those who are bringing them.  Thank you!

Through a generous donation of Visa gift cards, we made a quick run to Costco today to load up on chicken breasts, which will go in the grocery orders tomorrow.  We try to make sure protein is in every order.

A shipment of 40 hand-sewn face masks arrived today from a donor in Spokane…aka my mother and her sewing friends.  The JR crew is proudly sporting them.  Thank you!

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Here’s a list of the 17 churches currently proving groceries during the week.  Together, they are serving about 270 families twice per week.

• Bellevue Christian Reformed

• Bellevue Presbyterian

• CityHill Bellevue

• Common Good

• Cornerstone

• Covenant Presbyterian

• Creekside Covenant

• Crossroads Bible

• Doxa

• Evangelical Chinese

• Highland Covenant

• Kalos

• Lighthouse

• Overlake Park Presbyterian

• Rain City

• Sacred Heart

• St. Louise Parish

Thank you for your love of this community. 

A few stories for you:

An email from a family: “Hello, My name is Trinidad. My family and I are truly grateful for all the support you all gave given us during this time of COVID-19. My husband and I are currently not working due to this pandemic; but thanks to all of the people who donate their time and goods we are able to get through it. We truly appreciate all the time you have taken to help all of us in need. Thank you so much! Sincerely Trinidad.”

From Ken: You likely know of the “store” we set up each day in front of Jubilee.  This is an outlet for all the extra food donated and allows families to choose for themselves, as compared to the grocery program where they are given a set list of items.  Today, we didn’t have enough extra food to make the store worth it, so I made the decision to just skip it.  At 12:30 pm, I came into the lobby, only to find a local food bank had delivered potatoes, apples, bread and more to us unexpectedly.  Suddenly, the “store” was needed.  The crew hastily set up the tables and three of them set up all the displays for easy shopping.  Before 1 pm, we had a setup store area stocked full.  From nothing to everything, without even planning it.  Wow!

Serving together,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH

Groceries for Families: Week 3 - Day 1

April 6, 2020

Loving the sunshine!  Everybody was in such a good mood today: delivery crew, JR staff, families.  People were soaking up the sunshine.  Here we are at day 1 of week 3, and things are going very well. 

Groceries were delivered by Rain City, CityHill, Common Good, and Lighthouse Churches.  Thank you for the continued joy you all showed this morning.  It’s great to see so many pastor’s on-site at Jubilee, too.  Today we welcomed about 20 new families into the program, who were on the waiting list all last week.  It was good to see the new faces coming and learning what this is all about.  Thank you for the extra groceries brought today.  We had just a few orders remaining at the end of the day.

Families also received diapers, pet food and an assortment of personal hygiene items (limit of 3).  Popular items were toothpaste, shampoo, baby wipes, dish soap, and paper towels.  Every family also was given 2 rolls of TP.

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A few emails from families to pass to you:

“My husband has now been without a job for about a month since the restaurant where he works closed due to the virus. And I know like me, I know there are many families who are going through a difficult situation. But organizations like you are the ones that give families like us a little bit of breath. May God bless you, and me and on behalf of my family we thank you for everything.”

“Mi esposo se quedó sin trabajo ya lleva casi un mes desde que el restaurante donde trabajaba cerró debido al virus. Y así como yo, se qué hay muchas familia que están pasando por una situación difícil.  Pero organizaciones como ustedes son las que le dan un pequeño respiro a las familias. Que Dios los bendiga, y a nombre mío y de mi familia les doy las gracias por todo.”

My family and I are very thankful for the help we are receiving in part to the people at Jubilee REACH. God bless you all who care for helping us. A thousand thanks.” 

“Mi familia y yo estamos muy agradecidos, por la ayuda que estamos recibiendo de parte de ustedes las personas de Jubilee Reach, Dios bendiga a todos los qué se preocupan por ayudarnos, mil gracias🙏”

“You and your teams are the best I’m very appreciative and I thank you for all your help make sure you taking care of yourself and your teams. Thank you!”

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With the new families coming off the waitlist, the current count is about 260 families receiving groceries twice each week.  There are 17 different churches providing these grocery orders.  Welcome to St. Louise Parish, Bellevue Christian Reformed, and Overlake Park Presbyterian Churches this week!

Thanks for communicating to all of your participating members, friends, and partners.  We want to keep this momentum going!

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH

Groceries for Families: Week 2 - Day 6

April 4, 2020

This last day of week 2 was sunny and warm (in the sunshine, at least), which allowed us to not use the canopies for the first time.  People showed up right at 10am and trickled in all morning.  We called people for reminders, which caused a late rush. 

Groceries were delivered by Evangelical Chinese Church of Seattle and Bellevue Presbyterian.  Of the 70 families expected, only 11 didn’t show and a few of those told us they would come Monday.  We’re working hard to get people to show up, which isn’t as easy as it could be.  For lots of families, we go through the BSD counselors, which slows the process.  But we will keep working at it.

An email from a family last night:  "Thank you so much, you guys are really good people. May God provide you much more. Have a good night."

Tomorrow is a day of rest.  Week 3 begins Monday, with new families coming off the waiting list.

Thanks for your love of this community. As someone wrote on their bag today “We’re all in this together!”

Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH

Groceries for Families: Week 2 - Day 5

April 3, 2020

Today was a very smooth day, with a great feeling all around this operation.  The wind brought some cold temperatures and played havoc with our papers, but people were in good moods and seemed happy to be with us.  Check-in is an easy process that people are learning and moves quickly.

Groceries were delivered by Crossroads Bible, Evangelical Chinese Church of Seattle and Covenant Presbyterian.  There is a lot of cold items in these orders, so it took us some time to get it all packed into the refrigerator.

People received bulk food items (rice, flour, salt, sugar, pinto beans, butter) and cooking oil.  We made the decision to buy small Mason jars to hold the oil.  Each family gets one jar.  If they want more later, they can bring the jar back to fill. 

A few stories for you:

We’ve been trying to give families 1 or 2 rolls of TP with each order.  This morning I was standing at my desk thinking about tomorrow’s families, because we used the remaining TP for today’s orders.  No more TP is expected.  Do I go buy more?  Do we just do without?  I will admit I didn’t pray about it in the moment.  As I stood there, I looked out my interior office door window and discovered a mountain of TP had appeared outside my door. (see picture)  I asked the Site Coaches, who told me Crossroads Bible Church had included it with their grocery order.  Love that!  Thank you.

On Wednesday, we had 20 extra orders at the end of the day, due to some miscommunication with new families.  Early this morning I connected with the Pastor of a small local church, New Hope Revival, whose members are immigrants from Rwanda and the Congo.  Most of them work in the types of hourly positions most affected by this crisis.  I had heard earlier in the week many of them were in distress.  The Pastor arrived with a minivan at 9:30am, where we loaded up the groceries, some fresh meat, diapers, bread and more.  He took it directly to his members and sent some wonderful texts of thanks over the course of the day.  The last said “Thank you very much brother.  My people needed food and were hungry.”

The two things that cause me distress in this whole program are 1) having families on the waiting list, whom I know are hungry and stressed, and 2) having food here at Jubilee which needs to get out to families.  Nothing gets hoarded here.  It all goes out.  Thank you my dear friends for providing this nourishment and love to this community.

We are working on bringing those on the waiting list into the program.  Thank you to those of you able to increase your weekly commitments.  If anyone is able to bring more grocery orders, please let me know ASAP.

One more day in the week tomorrow morning.  It’s been a good week.

Bless you all,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH

Groceries for Families: Week 2 - Day 4

April 2, 2020

Day 10 is in the books.  If we could count on weather like today, we would just pull this whole operation outside.  Families are figuring this out and showing up early to get in line.  They are very polite and wait until we are ready at 1 pm.  The first half-hour is a bit of controlled crazy, but then we find a rhythm and ride out the busy wave.  The rest of it is smooth sailing from there.

Groceries today were delivered by Sacred Heart Parish, Kalos, and Doxa Churches.  Site coaches and Jubilee staff took care of the setup, sorting, and delivery.  Some of the staff has done enough 2-3 hour shifts to be quite the expert at this.  However, we are ever-evolving and new things are implemented daily, so we’re always learning.  All but five families showed up, which is an awesome ratio from 60 families.  We delivered five orders, too.

There is an attached picture with Brock.  Behind him is the new station we set up just inside the front door for easy access.  Today, families could receive, in addition to the groceries, diapers, flour, sugar, pinto beans, rice, butter, and cooking oil.  I’d guess all took at least one item and most took 4-5. 

Thanks for the incredible partnership!
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH

Groceries for Families: Week 2 - Day 3

April 1, 2020

It was great to have no rain today (well, mostly).  Warmer temperatures would certainly cheer things up.  Lots of families showed up right at 1 pm today, as they get accustomed to the schedule.  The mood is very happy and calm, with everyone following the safe-distancing rules.

Groceries were delivered today by Bellevue Presbyterian and Highland Covenant. Site Coaches were on hand to sort and deliver. We’re getting it down to a nice system, with some good humor and fun involved.

The Jubilee frozen meat area is nearly depleted.  Today, we started buying chicken breasts to freeze, as we want to provide protein to families.

A few stories:

Yesterday, Barb Bloomstrand, Hospitality Manager at Jubilee REACH, started a lunch delivery program for seniors in our community.  Food for the menu was purchased and donated by a volunteer, who has agreed to back the program weekly.  Barb cooked the soup, made the sandwiches and packed it all in nice sacks, adding a note of encouragement.  Last week, I called homeowners we’ve served through the Jubilee Service Day program, whom I know to be likely shut-in and isolated.  Twelve homes with 18 people welcomed the deliveries and sent me lovely notes of thanks all day long yesterday.  For sure the tasty food is appreciated, but I think they mostly love being thought and remembered.  Thank you to Barb, Doug and those who delivered.  So great!  This program will continue weekly for the foreseeable future.

From the Family Engagement Specialist at Sherwood Forest Elementary:

“Thank you, Daniel!! This is such good news for Cristina’s family!  I just spoke with Jennifer Silva/Ferguson, she told me what was in her boxes of food.  It is great that you give fresh fruits and vegetables, bread, toilet paper, and you gave her diapers.  Thank you for all that you are doing, Valerie”

We had about 20 extra orders today, with a mix up in communication for some first-time families.  With this available, we sent out a quick email to the 60 families on the waiting list, to say they could come now for a one-time order of groceries.  Within 20 minutes the first families started to show up, and it continued until about 5pm.  Additionally, Daniel was able to deliver some of these orders to people in urgent need of food.  What we thought was extra, turned out to have a need after all.

We made the decision today to only provide personal hygiene items on Mon, Tue, and Wed.  This will allow inventory to replenish to support the large number of families now in the program.  Some items like diapers will be available still.  On Thu, Fri and Sat, families will receive bulk foods: rice, flour, pinto beans, sugar, salt, butter, and cooking oil.  Portions are packed up and ready to go tomorrow.

As I said, there are about 60 families on the waiting list now.  We have taken a pause the last three days to ensure our internal systems are stable, before adding more to the program.  We’ll continue to work toward that goal and will be engaging churches to support those families soon.  If you think your church could provide more groceries, please email me so we can be ready.

I wish you all a great evening.  Continue to pray for this community.

Cheers,
Ken Carpenter
Service Coordinator, Jubilee REACH