GROCERIES FOR FAMILIES

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 5/26/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 5/26/20

Groceries for Families: Week 10 - Day 2

Wow, what a busy day it was! There was so much going on today. The families kept us busy for a full 2+ hours, with the last 20 minutes as busy as the first 20. When it was over and we could breathe, it was a joy to sit down to take a rest and share with each other about the day. Everything went well, but it just felt so constant all day long. Whew! Thanks to a great staff who never stops moving. Praise that it wasn’t raining today.

Groceries today came from Cornerstone, Crossroads Bible, Westminster, Creekside Covenant, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches. A total of 162 orders came in and every one of them went out to families today, including 5 by delivery. Thanks to all of you would contribute today. Delivery time in the morning is always so delightful to see so many happy people giving. Thank you!

We started something new yesterday, which will give you insight into a few things here. Every day we get people who show up interested in getting into this program. They come referred by friends, word of mouth, or the school district. Alleigha runs the check-in, so greets them, qualifies them and adds most to the waiting list. For sure, these families need food and are typically hoping to get food now to feed their families. We don’t ever want to send people away hungry. Previously, we would judge whether there were extra grocery orders available or not. It’s a hard call to make in the heat of the moment. Usually, we error on the side of giving them an order. With numbers now being very tight, meaning few extra orders, we needed a new procedure. Now, each morning we create 5-10 “Hospitality Orders” and set them aside, just inside the doorway. These are made up of extra food brought in or leftover from the previous day. We’ll be saving items for these orders going forward. So, we’re not taking from the orders of the day, yet have a full bag of food ready to hand out to a walk-in. Now, Alleigha calls on the radio for a “Hospitality Order” when she needs one, and someone can deliver it to the family outside. We had 7 of these today, and it worked very well. Families go home with food, and the daily operation isn’t impacted. Boom! Love it.

Ed, one of the Lead Managing Site Coaches, drove the Thrift Store truck to a farm in Woodinville today to pick up 1000 pounds of red onion and 1000 pounds of potatoes.

We gave half to a church in White Center and have the other half read for the market tomorrow. Both will be very popular and will be gone quickly. People will be very happy.

A few emails from families:

Si muchas gracias enverdad Dios los bendiga a todos kienes participan en esta lavor xq gracias a ustedes estamos comiendo

Yes, many thanks. Truly, may God bless you all who participate in this labor because thanks to you we are eating.

Who would've thought we would be here in 2020 in quarantine for several months. I was working at Bellevue Family YMCA, prior to the quarantine. I had recently left due to some health issues my daughter was having and we are currently still trying to figure out. I am a single mother of 2 children in the Bellevue School District and most of my family are essential workers who work in the hospitals. My household has been overwhelmed by the pandemic due to school being closed, among other things. We are very thankful for all of the support that's been given to us at this time. I love the fact that jubilee gives us real and usable laundry soap food and other supplies that we can take advantage of. I am able to use every single thing and save my money for things like rent and bills. Jubilee is truly a blessing to me and my family and we hope to one day soon, be able to give back and we know exactly where to start. Thanks for being so kind and making it such a pleasant experience. We appreciate all of your work and care in assisting us during this time.
Hello, I am a single mother with 4 daughters. I would like to thank you for all your help, I am currently not working as of right now. Thanks to you we are doing fine, God bless you.

Thanks for a great day today. We’re looking forward to the warmer weather coming over the next few days. Please continue to pray for these families. Please pray for the staff that serves here each day. Pray that the virus stays away from this place. It is not welcome!

Wherever you are, we wish you a great evening and hope you find joy in this crazy time.

Blessings,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 5/25/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 5/25/20

Groceries for Families: Week 10 - Day 1

The start of a new week went very well, with the flow of the day steady all day. The rain was expected to hold off for the afternoon, but we decided to put out the canopies, just in case. Good thing, as the rain hung around all afternoon.

Groceries today came from Sacred Heart, Lighthouse, Common Good, Rain City, Bellevue Presbyterian, 24-Seven, BCRC, and CityHill churches. A total of 164 orders arrived and all but a few went out to families today (the remaining few will go out as deliveries in the morning), including 37 by delivery. The holiday definitely kept a few of the regular families away. It’s funny how you miss certain people you’re expecting to see on a Monday

With the holiday, we had a few different crew members, as some people took today off. Both the AM and PM crews did great, with the new people catching on quickly. Thank you to the substitutes today!

Pastor Wayne from Lighthouse Church came for a tour this morning and greeted his congregation dropping off groceries. He said it was delightful, as he hasn’t seen their faces is many months.

It was a nice surprise for the shoppers to come to Jubilee only to be greeted by their pastor. Wayne stayed for the 1pm opening time and led us in prayer. Thank you!

Families today were able to choose three of the personal hygiene items. Thanks to all of you who continue to donate these pantry items. Dish soap is the most popular and something we need more of, if anyone is still bringing a drop-off this week. Thank you all!

Lots of extra foods came with the groceries today, including plenty of fruits and vegetables. All of these make it to the market, so today had a great selection. Thank you!

The food truck (pizza) on Saturday evening was a big success with many families returning to redeem vouchers. The weather was perfect, and it was a nice treat for everyone.

The same truck will be here this Thursday evening at 4pm. Plan to come, if you can.

Today marks the first day of week 10 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Thank you for sustaining the energy and commitment to it. It takes all of us to make this work, and we’re so grateful for all of you. Thank you!

Have a great evening,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 5/23/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 5/23/20

Groceries for Families: Week 9 - Day 6

No rain and plenty of fun here today! The clouds kept the sun away, but the rain held off. The crew day had a ton to do in a short amount of time and got it all done. The pace today of families arriving was different. The early rush was over in 20 minutes and then trickled for an hour. But the last 45 minutes was busy, busy. Perhaps people are sleeping in or perhaps they’ve learned to avoid the opening line. In the end, most came. Enjoy the Time Lapse courtesy of Sam, who kindly gives his phone up for two hours each Saturday.

Groceries today came from Bellevue Presbyterian, Evangelical Chinese, and Victory Court churches. A total of 140 orders came in and all went out to families, including 11 by delivery. The incoming grocery drop-off was smooth, timely and very organized.

With Saturday being very tight for time, this was a great operation. Thank you to all!

Tonight will have a church-sponsored food truck in the Jubilee parking lot from 4-7pm. Wood-Fired Pizza! Come, if you can, to support the business with cash customers. We handed out 125 vouchers to families today, so we’ll see how many return. The guess is many…as who doesn’t like pizza! Thank you.

A follow-up personal story from Ken:

You may remember the story earlier in the week of the woman whose family only eats green vegetables. I had made it my mission to befriend her, as my attitude had been less than stellar. As green vegetables came in as extras over the week, there was a nice assortment ready for her yesterday. Before we opened, we invited her and her daughter to the front of the line and presented them with the vegetables: lettuce, cucumber, peppers, eggplant, avocado, broccoli, and a few other things. She was very perplexed about why we would do this for them. She asked multiple times “why would you do this?” The simple answer to wanting to help did satisfy her, and her smile came. Her daughter was delighted and bouncy with happiness. Hopefully, they had a great dinner last night. We’ll try to continue to do this for them and a few other vegetarian families.

Today was the final day of the week for bulk ingredient items. Here’s a tally of the number of bags given out over the three days:

Flour- 173 bags or 355 lbs
Rice- 238 bags or 595 lbs
Beans- 208 bags 250 lbs
Sugar- 307 bags 292 lbs
Salt- 229 bags 149 lbs
Laundry Pods this week- 331 bags or 6,620 loads of laundry
To date, we have given out 15,840 loads of laundry through laundry pods.
(this doesn’t include the liquid detergent given out)

As with each Saturday, here’s a look at statistics to date after 8 weeks:

Program Days: 54
Families currently in the program: 533+
People in these families: 2398 (approximate)
Grocery orders provided: 6716
Churches & Organizations engaged: 27
Different shoppers participating: 985 (approximate)

You may notice the number of families in the program dropped from 592 to 533. We had put about 100 families on “probation” early last week, as they simply weren’t coming consistently enough. They needed to come twice to remain in the program. In the end, 59 families were removed. If they want to come back in, they will just go onto the waiting list.

There are 70+ families on the waiting list currently. We hope to have the capacity to bring them into the program in a week.

Today marks the last day of week 9 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. Thanks for a great week and an incredible spring. It feels like the wind is at our backs with so many people in the community pulling together. Thank you for all you do to support these families through giving, your time, and your prayers.

Tomorrow is a day of rest. Be back Monday.

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 5/22/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 5/22/20

Groceries for Families: Week 9 - Day 5

Today’s pace was funny, which we think was impacted by the free food boxes being delivered at Bellevue College today. The 1:00pm opening time seemed normal but the line was through in about 20 minutes. Then there was a long lull. Then the last 30 minutes was crazy busy. Not normal. In the end, we handed out the last grocery order at 3:10pm. Busy day but in weird spacing.

Groceries today came from Evangelical Chinese, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, Covenant Presbyterian, and Westminster Chapel churches. A total of 167 orders were delivered and all went out to families, including 16 by delivery. Thank you to all who contributed today to the grocery delivery. It was a very smooth flow all morning.

Lots of personal hygiene items came flowing in today, refilling the pantry for next week. It’s so great to see cars pulling up full of shampoo, toilet paper, laundry detergent, and more. Plenty of chicken and bulk foods showed up, too. Thank you to all who are giving!

A second load from Sysco of Seattle came today. This time we picked it up at their Kent warehouse. Ed Park, a lead site coach, drove the Thrift Store truck to Kent twice bringing back chips, fresh broccoli, pasta salad, smoothie drinks, and more. All of the cold items went out to families today, which was a lot of fun. The chips are held in storage and are going out steadily. Thank you!

Box lunches arrived this morning in a big white BSD truck. Big boxes of turkey, ham and egg salad sandwiches landed in the market and went out all afternoon. There are about 50 remaining, currently in the cooler, which will go out tomorrow. Thank you!

A few emails from families today:

Muchas pero muchas gracias a dios🙏🙏 primero por ayudar a ustedes aser esto posible por tomarse su tiempo en ayudar a la gente que necesitamos esta ayuda que nos dan y a todas las personas que donan la comidas dios los llene de bendiciones y salud😊

Many, many thanks be to God 🙏🙏First, for helping you all to make this possible, for giving your time to help people who need this help you give us and to all the people who donate groceries. God fill you with blessings and health. 😊

Mi familia y yo estamos muy agradecidos por todo el apoyo que hemos tenido durante esta pandemia en especial a jubile reach que a sido el lugar donde hacen donaciones otras personas para nosotros. Si no fuera por todas las personas que an donado a este lugar para que nosotros no se que hubiera sido para mi y mi familia. Que Dios les de más bendiciones para que nos sigan apoyando. Una disculpa que yo no había escrito antes por qué no le entiendo mucho al correo electrónico. Mil gracias y bendiciones a todos los que an echo posible la ayuda.

My family and I are very thankful for all the support we have received during this pandemic. Especially to Jubilee REACH which has been a place where others make donations for us. If it were not for all the people who are giving to this place so we could have, I do not know what would have been for me and my family. May God give you more blessings so we can continue to be supported. I apologize I had not yet written because I do not understand much about email. A thousand thanks and blessings to everyone who has made this help possible.

It was another great day, with so many positive things happening. These email summaries capture just a taste of it and hopefully shed light on enough for you all to feel connected. Each day we talk about all the people giving to support this program. Our staff is carrying your love and passing it to the families. Thank you for entrusting us with this.

Peace to you all,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 5/21/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 5/21/20

Groceries for Families: Week 9 - Day 4

We sure dodged a bullet today with the weather. Thank you to anyone who was praying! It poured rain during deliveries this morning and then the sun came out about 12:00pm. It stayed lovely until about 2:45pm, so most of the families came in dry weather. This operation is much harder in the rain, so this was a nice blessing.

Groceries today came from Redeemer, Overlake Park Presbyterian, Kalos, Sacred Heart, Doxa, First United Methodist, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches. A total of 150 orders came and all went out to families, including 15 by delivery and one late arrival about an hour ago for the last order. Thank you to all who delivered in the rain this morning. It was a very smooth operation.

Box lunches arrived this morning from the Bellevue School District and Microsoft. All but just a few went out today. We put them out in the market, but not all the families take the time to stand in a second line. To hand out most of them, we station a person at the parking lot exit. Rosario is the soldier who does this twice a week and is quite a saleswoman, trust me. Today she had a canopy over her and braved the cold and rain, all with a smile. She is wonderful! Thank you to BSD and Microsoft.

A special few people brought 30 tomato plants and instructions about how to grow them on a balcony/patio. Linda stayed for the afternoon to hand them out to willing families. She had a blast! It was great to see families carrying 3-foot tall tomato plants to their cars. It certainly added a lot of fun to the day. Thank you!

A few emails from families:

Sent with a picture of her groceries displayed: “Given in joy - Received in gratitude - Scrubbed with caring hands - Left to dry alone but in togetherness decorate my kitchen with color - I breathe love into my hands and prepare the salad that will feed my son and daughter - Thank you for your kindness.”
Including the silly part of the email because it shows behind the scenes a bit: ” I can’t believe I did it again ! I came a day early , again ! I’m suppose to come on Friday’s not Thursdays, and again today I showed up a day early ! I apologize ! Please note that I won’t be there tomorrow (Friday) because I came today ! You all are amazing ! And thank you again for the beautiful flowers for Mother’s Day!”

An email from a Pastor at Lighthouse Church:

“Dear Ken, Thanks for your daily reports, with the pictures and stories of lives touched. These are so encouraging, and I’m very thankful for how the Lord is using you and Daniel, the JR staff and volunteers, and all the folks from the 25 churches to bless our local community in so many ways. It’s truly awesome how the Lord is bringing beauty out of ashes (Isaiah 61:3) during the current crisis.
May you stay healthy and safe. And may God give you strength and joy as you advance his kingdom by serving those in need. With appreciation, Wayne”

Thanks for a great day. We’re on the downhill side of week 9. Warm weather looks to be returning, which will be very welcome.

Have a great evening…peace to you all

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 5/20/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 5/20/20

Groceries for Families: Week 9 - Day 3

The forecast today had rain coming at 4pm, which proved to be true. This meant we all were dry and comfortable today in the overcast gray. It’s raining now. The operation today was smooth and full of good energy.

(Just a reminder of the blog which holds all the history of these email summaries: www.jubileereach.org/blog. Please put this out to anyone serving in this Groceries for Families program, so they can get the current updates.)

Groceries today came from Highland Covenant, Bellevue Christian Reformed, St. Louise Parish, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches. A total of 151 orders were delivered and all went out to families, including four by delivery. Thanks for the on-time deliveries and smooth hand-off all morning long.

Casey with Awakening Church showed up this morning with a car-full of food donations from Union Gospel Mission. Wow, what fun stuff! There are cases of yummy pesto, which was very popular in the market. There were many boxes of shredded potatoes and chopped onions/peppers, which were also very popular. It made for a very fun day in the market, with families getting things normally not offered. Thank you!

One item available any day is cooking oil (canola or vegetable). There is a sign on the table where groceries are passed out, which tells people to bring their own container if they’d like oil. It’s become more and more popular, with now about a third of the families taking it. Last week, someone donated six large containers of olive oil. So, this week families were given a choice and about half chose olive oil. It was a simple, yet fun change in the daily routine. It is all gone now.

Laundry detergent went out for the third day, so all the families were offered it. We gave away 330 bags of 20 pods each and about 75 liquid bottles.

This is the most we’ve given in the three times detergent has been available. Thank you to all who donated! We hope to provide it again in two weeks.

Today was the last day this week for personal hygiene items. The shelves behind me are quite bare, which is a good thing after three days of passing it all out to families. Thank you to all who donate to this part of the program. Tomorrow starts bulk ingredients, which are all ready to go in bins.

A quick personal story from Ken:

You’ll remember the story of the Grandma who cried when she was given Mother’s Day gifts two weeks ago. Then there was the follow-up story a week ago where she sought me out to explain why she was so emotional. Today she came to me again, all smiles, to tell me her grandchildren came with her. The teenager was in line with her and the other was in the car. After she went through the line, she brought both over to me to meet them. She was a very proud Grandma showing off her two grandchildren. So very sweet. We are friends now.

A recent email from Judy Buckmaster, Bellevue School District, Executive Director of Community Development:

It is Friday and I am seated at my desk at home where I have been working since March. I have an office set-up so that I am seated next to a window that allows the sun to shine in and I can hear the voices of my 4 and 7-year-old neighbors in their backyard. The children are bi-lingual Japanese and English speakers and when they are not at a lesson, they are outside expending tremendous energy. Their joy for life is palpable. When I take breaks to throw the ball for my black lab, they always stop to chat and that is when I help the youngest to practice English while he tries to teach me some Japanese —not easy for me to remember a lot at this point! The joy of children is such a blessing!

Many times as I am working, I get a new email from Ken or Ashley and I always take the time to read their updates. I love reading about the daily parade of groceries and looking at the pictures that bring it all to life. I know that many of you are supporting this effort as well as staying in touch with your students. I also know that if you are not at the center supporting the grocery effort, it is for good reasons of protecting your health or the health of your loved ones.

On this sunny morning in May, I wanted to take a few minutes to let you know that I think of you daily, that I am overwhelmed by the generosity of spirit that is exemplified at Jubilee REACH, and that I am so thankful to live in a community that steps-up to take care of their neighbor.

From me personally and also on behalf of the Bellevue School District, my heartfelt thanks and gratitude for all you do and who you choose to be during this most challenging time!

With great respect and admiration,
Judy

This program continues to roll along in such a positive way and is an absolute blast to be a part of. It is energy giving! Thank you for all your support and prayers.

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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