GROCERIES FOR FAMILIES

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/11/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/11/20

Groceries for Families: Week 21 - Day 2

Tuesdays and Fridays are by far the busiest days of the week, both in terms of total families and the number of large families, which get two orders. They are always hopping days, and today was no exception. The morning was very steady with incoming groceries and food boxes. The afternoon was steady with families coming. Then it went eerily quiet at 2:30pm for about 15 minutes. No one was here. Then a line of 15 people formed in moments and stayed long until 3:15pm. What a finish!

Groceries today came from Creekside Covenant, Cornerstone, Crossroads Bible, Bellevue Presbyterian, and Westminster Chapel churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 120 orders came in and all went out to families today. Another 31 food boxes went out to families, also, for a total of 151 orders going out today. Wow!

The food boxes arrived early today, which is very helpful in our process.

El Dios Viviente Church came to pick up 3 pallets of boxes at 9:00am. Volunteers took out the perishable items from the other 2 pallets and put them into refrigeration.

We’ve come to really count on these boxes and use them wisely to help more people.

The option to have online grocery delivery started last month and is doing well. We get 2-4 orders daily from various providers. A picture of a Safeway truck is attached from this morning. It’s a nice way for some shoppers to stay engaged. Thank you!

The food truck will be here tomorrow night: Cascadia Wood Fired Pizza. Come if you can!

A few personal notes from Ken:

Many of you have responded to the story of the African family from yesterday. Rest assured the school district is staying close to them. A Safeway gift card was donated today and was delivered to the family by Daniel, along with two bags full of hygiene items. We will continue to stay close to them and work with Lake Hills Elementary to support them. Please pray for them. More to come.
A few of you have been asking about the Jewish family which we provide special groceries of only vegetables and fruit to. They are doing very well and still come on Mondays & Thursdays. I’ve become close to the husband, David. He is a very nice man and working hard to care for his family. We continue to look for a variety of fruits and vegetables to save for them each day. Fortunately, fresh produce is coming from a few gardens: Holy Cross Lutheran, Creekside Covenant, and the Master Gardeners. The medical bill which came up a few weeks ago was covered by five anonymous donors. We will continue to pour love into this dear family. Thank you.

From Ken: As I mentioned yesterday, I’ll be taking time off after today to go camping with my family. Thank you for the many kind notes emailed back to me in the last day. I feel all of your love and support. Thank you for the prayers. We will be on the early ferry out of Edmonds on Thursday, heading toward the Olympics. If you need anything, Ashley will be watching my email account, or you can reach her at ashleyp@jubileereach.org. This place is in very good hands. This daily email will come from her. Be back Monday.

Thank you for all you’re doing to support these families. It’s hard not to get emotional when thinking about all that is happening here through all of you. Wow! The relationships with these families are now five months old for some of them. We care deeply about them. Please continue to pray for them.

May you be blessed this evening by being surrounded by people you love,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/10/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/10/20

Groceries for Families: Week 21 - Day 1

Day 1 of week 21 was a very nice day all-around, which is always a nice goal to have. The morning was smooth with lots of people dropping off groceries and pantry items. The crew was busy all morning long. The afternoon was a steady flow of families, right up to the end. Such days are not taken for granted. A lot goes into keeping this operation humming along, and a huge thanks to everyone who plays a part in it each day. Thank you!

Groceries today came from Rain City, Sacred Heart, Lighthouse, Common Good, 24-Seven, Bellevue Christian Reformed, and Bellevue Presbyterian churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 122 orders came in today and all went out to families today, including 26 by delivery. Thank you to everyone who participated today!

The market and exit tables were all full today of extras. Volunteers yesterday brought a large delivery from the Safeway Thrashers Corner in Bothell. Thank you!

Volunteers today brought a delivery from the QFC Crossroads. Thank you!

Many of you brought in extras. Thank you!

As the afternoon went along, additional items were added from refrigeration. So great!

A couple of pictures to show you the two areas.

The Master Gardeners in Lake Hills brought fresh produce.

Thank you!

Our supplier of fresh trout returned today which a beautiful batch of fish caught up near Carnation.

For families that don’t each beef and chicken, this is a welcome addition to the program.

Thank you, Linda!

Pastor Gerardo from El Dios Viviente Methodist Church in White Center was here early this morning.

He is pastoring his congregation and about 300 families in the community through food.

We were able to give him a van load of extra food, which he distributed today. Please pray for him and his wife. Pray for their congregation and community. We’ve become very close to them all.

Families were offered a choice of 3 hygiene items today. Thank you to everyone who filled the pantry the past few days.

The food truck this week will be here on Wednesday from 4-7pm. It is wood-fired pizza from Cascadia and is wonderful. Plan to come!

A personal story by Ken and Daniel:

This afternoon, Daniel received the following email from the ‘Family Engagement Specialist’ at Lake Hills Elementary, which is adjacent to Jubilee REACH.

“A teacher reached out to me asking for help to this family. They are refugees from Africa and today the teacher went to their house and they have eaten only bread all day. The children were so hungry, so she went to buy some snacks for them.

Could you please send a runner with food to their house? And Extra Safeway vouchers, so they can buy special food that they like. No allergies, 2 adults, 3 children, 12,10,7 They speak Swahili. They are short in everything ☹ Thank you so much.”

Daniel reacted immediately by driving two orders of groceries to their home nearby. The kids speak a little English but are very shy. The dad spoke enough English to say hello. We will work to find a Swahili translator and return tomorrow with hygiene items and more.

This is the kind of family this program can and should help. There are more like this out there. As we transition into Version 2 this fall, the hope is the school leadership can help identify such families in crisis, and they can be brought into this program, not just for the food, but also for the love, community, and feeling of hope. We need to help them.

The plan for Version 2 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program is being rolled out to all the partners now. Additionally, we told the families today about the program extending past August. Until now, all of them think it is ending on August 29th. There was immediate joy and relief as Marjorie passed them a note and verbally shared with them the program will continue, albeit in a new form. We felt it best to tell them now, so as to alleviate any stress felt about it ending.

We begin week 21 with about 485 families in the ‘Groceries for Families’ program, all coming twice per week. There are no families on the waiting list currently, as we onboarded many last weeks from it. Thank you for your continued support. We are in the last three weeks of the current version of this program. Please keep going right to the end. It is working!

From Ken – I’ll be taking a few days off this week to go camping with my family - gone Wed-Sun. Ashley (ashleyp@jubileereach.org) and Sam will be running the operation while I’m gone. If you need me personally, find me tomorrow. Otherwise, they will be watching my email account during this time. Please pray for rest, relaxation, and trout which are biting.

Blessings to you all,

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

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

Groceries for Families: Week 20 - Day 6

When the mist was hanging around early today, we thought it would finish up before the operation opened at 10am. Not to be. It actually turned to a steady rain just before then, which had us hustling to get the last three canopies up. We’ve dealt with much worse weather, but in August we certainly are hoping for warm and sunny. Oh, well. The operation went very well today, with groceries coming in early. There was a lot going on here, so we actually opened 15 minutes late. Families came all morning long, in a nice steady pace. Now, it finally looks like the rain may be moving on.

Groceries today came from Bellevue Presbyterian, Evangelical Chinese and Victory Court churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 141 orders came in and all went out to families, including the final 6 orders carried over from Thursday. Thanks to everyone who participated today.

The market was open and full today with mainly non-perishable items today.

The exit line tables were also full and stocked with all the fresh and perishable items we had. We emptied the refrigerators of all the miscellaneous fresh items that had come in this week, which was actually quite a lot: eggs, milk, half and half, cheese, butter, ham, chicken, bacon, lunch meat, and more. Such great stuff!

Thanks to everyone who gave extras to make this possible.

Today was the last day this week for bulk foods to be offered to families. They were able to choose 3 from a list of rice, pinto beans, sugar, salt, and flour. The crew has now flipped the entire lobby to be ready for hygiene to be offered on Monday. Thank you to everyone who helps fill the pantry each week.

Here’s a quick count of the bulk food going out this week:

Flour: 84 bags or 172 lbs
Rice: 155 bags or 388 lbs
Beans: 189 bags or 227 lbs
Sugar: 249 bags or 187 lbs
Salt: 179 bags or 90 lbs

As with each Saturday, here’s a look at statistics to date after 19 weeks:

Program Days: 120
Families currently in the program: 490+
People in these families: 2205 (approximate)
Families on the waiting list: 19
Grocery orders provided to-date: 20,502
Churches & Organizations engaged: 28
Different shoppers participating: 950 (approximate)

We end this week with about 490 families in the program, each invited twice per week. The waiting list is at 19 families. As you’ve read earlier this week, about 40 families entered the program from the waiting list and about 17 came back after exiting the program last month.

Today marks the last day of week 20 of this ‘Groceries for Families’ program. It continues to cruise right along with so many good things happening. Thank you all for the continued participation, prayers, support, and love for the people of our community. It’s just so great to be in this with you all.

Thanks for a great week. Tomorrow is a day of rest. Be back Monday.

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/7/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/7/20

Groceries for Families: Week 20 - Day 5

The crew totally enjoys days like today. The weather was ideal – warm, but not hot. The morning was steady with incoming deliveries, keeping us all busy. Lots of groceries and pantry items, the latter which created quite a large pile inside. The afternoon was steady with families, many of whom are large in size so are given two orders. The people today just seemed to be extra pleasant and fun to be with. It was just a great day all around.

The groceries today came from Evangelical Chinese, Westminster Chapel, Bellevue Presbyterian, Covenant Presbyterian, and Crossroads Bible churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 129 orders came in and all went out to families today, including 10 by delivery. Another 30 orders carried over from yesterday also went out to families today. It was great to have the extra orders, which were needed for the new families from the waiting list and those which came back to the program after leaving last month. Also, about 8 families from yesterday, came today. Thank you to all who participated today! Wow!

Frozen chicken was delivered this morning from Bellevue Presbyterian.

Thank you to the volunteers who shopped for it, portioned it and delivered it. So great!

The market was again full today with also sorts of great extras, as was the exit line tables.

A large delivery came through a volunteer from the Crossroads QFC, plus a dairy delivery from Neighbors Feeding Neighbors.

Thank you to everyone who gave extras today!

The food truck is here now. Come get some great Mexican food until 7pm. Thank you to Bellevue Presbyterian for the sponsorship.

A personal note from Ken & Daniel:

We said goodbye to a familiar face here today. There is a woman who has been in the program since week 2 and has missed few if any, days since. Beyond picking up for herself each Tuesday and Friday, she also picks up for at least one other family and often three others. Beyond that, she comes on other days to pick up for other families. She has been the centerpiece of a strong network of friends helping each other. For us, she is a lovely person, who we enjoy seeing so often. Although she doesn’t speak English, we communicate with her just fine and love to help her help so many others. She has children at Stevenson Elementary and seems to have a deep knowledge of this crisis. She clearly knows what this program is about and what is being done here for the community. She’s almost protective of the program and shares her extra food with others, not in the program. She is moving to Bothell next week because rent in Bellevue is no longer affordable. She’ll be renting space in a home with other family members. She was very gracious in her thanks today, as we said goodbye. Please accept this thanks from her to all of you. She is a wonderful person, and we will miss her presence here and as a person in the Bellevue community.

We made calls today to some of the families who left the program late last month, just to ask how they are doing. With 17 families coming back this week, we were concerned there are other families who need to come back but haven’t contacted us. So far, all who were reached are doing fine. They are working enough to make ends meet. We’ll continue to stay in touch with them.

Thank you for a wonderful day. Version 2 of this program is being rolled out to partners now. The current program will end on August 29th, with Version 2 beginning September 1st. Watch for communication coming. Thank you for all you are doing to support these dear members of this community.

Blessings to you all,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/6/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/6/20

Groceries for Families: Week 20 - Day 4

So, who ordered the rain? If you had plans today, so sorry. Sacred Heart Parish had Confirmation outside today. Hopefully, it went well despite the weather. At Jubilee REACH, the rain didn’t arrive until about 8am and then came steadily for about three hours. Deliveries this morning were in the cold and rain. The AM crew had a mixed response: a few of us were cold & wanted a blanket, while a few others were in t-shirts, shorts and still were hot. The sun came out right at 1pm when we opened for families, which was great. Yet the rain persisted and is still coming down now, as this email goes out. Despite all this, the rain was a welcome change, and the operation ran very smoothly.

So, who ordered the rain? If you had plans today, so sorry. Sacred Heart Parish had Confirmation outside today. Hopefully, it went well despite the weather. At Jubilee REACH the rain didn’t arrive until about 8am and then came steadily for about three hours. Deliveries this morning were in the cold and rain. The AM crew had a mixed response: a few of us were cold & wanted a blanket, while a few others were in t-shirts, shorts and still were hot. The sun came out right at 1pm when we opened for families, which was great. Yet the rain persisted and is still coming down now, as this email goes out. Despite all this, the rain was a welcome change, and the operation ran very smoothly.

Groceries today came from Kalos, Sacred Heart, Overlake Park Presbyterian, Redeemer, First United Methodist, Doxa, and Bellevue Presbyterian, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 153 orders came in and all but 36 went out to families today, including 21 by delivery. Ten more deliveries will go out tomorrow from this set. Thursday last week was very short of families coming, which we don’t have an exact reason for today. Today was better, for sure, but still lighter than expected. The remaining groceries will definitely be used tomorrow, as there are many large families then which receive two orders, so the extra is great. Thank you to everyone who donated today!

The full market returned today and had some nice fresh foods brought by volunteers from the QFC Crossroads. Thank you! There was plenty of space for non-perishables, which had been building in inventory for the past few days. Because of the rain, we had to shrink the tables in a bit to stay dry, but it was a well-stocked market. Thank you to everyone who gave extras!

Through Awakening Church and Liberty Road Foundation, food boxes were available to Jubilee today from the Union Gospel Mission warehouse in Kent. Thank you, partners! Delivery was made by Medosweet Farms, which was directed to El Dios Viviente Methodist Church in White Center, Seattle where we’ve partnered with Pastor Guzman to support about 300 families each week with food. Every box reached a family this afternoon. Thank you to everyone who makes this happen!

The crew took the Jubilee REACH Thrift Store truck to Farmer Frog in Woodinville yesterday, bringing back a nice delivery of boxes containing apples, white onions, and potatoes.

They are piled just outside the front door and had to be covered with a tarp because of the rain.

We’ve started keeping such fresh items outside because the building inside stays so warm. It’s much cooler during the night outside, so they stay fresher. Thanks to the crew who made the drive and handled the unloading. Thank you to Farmer Frog for being such a great partner.

Another great partner is Eastside Baby Corner in Issaquah. Each Thursday, a Jubilee REACH staff member picks up a carload of diapers and other great items. They’ve been an essential partner since this program began way back in the spring. A picture of Ashley and today’s carload is above. Thank you!

The food truck will be here tomorrow night, 4-7pm. It will be Mexican food from ‘Ay Guey!’. Come if you can.

An email from a family today:

Hola! Quiero agradecer profundamente a Jubilee Reach y a todas las personas que hicieron posible la gran ayuda que me brindaron a mi y a mi familia durante esta pandemia y a cada uno de los voluntarios que aportaron mucho de su valioso tiempo y a los que donaron también por que Gracias a ellos no nos faltó comida en nuestra mesa durante esta crisis. Yo y mi familia antes de la pandemia estábamos pasando por unos momentos muy difíciles en nuestro hogar, después vino la pandemia y yo y mi esposo no teníamos trabajo, pero Gracias a Dios un personal de Stevenson me puso en su lista para poder obtener comida para mi y mi familia y estoy muy agradecida con todos ustedes por esta gran ayuda que me brindaron Gracias!! Muchas Gracias!!! Dios bendiga a cada uno de ustedes y a sus familias también.

Hello! I want to deeply thank Jubilee REACH and all the people who made possible this great help that you gave me and my family during this pandemic and to each volunteer that gave so much of their valuable time and all who donated too because thanks to them we did not go without food during this crisis. My family and I, before the pandemic was going through some difficult moments in our home, then the pandemic came and my husband and I did not have jobs, but thanks to God a staff member from Stevenson (Elementary School) put me on the list so I could receive food for my family and me, and I am very grateful with all of you for this grand help you have given me. Thank you!! Many thanks!!! God bless each of you and your families as well.

Thanks for a great day. The sun is due to return tomorrow and for the weekend. Yay!

Blessings to you all,

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

Jubilee REACH Communications 8/5/20 Jubilee REACH Communications 8/5/20

Groceries for Families: Week 20 - Day 3

Lovely day today, nice and busy, with all operations rolling along smoothly. The morning was very busy with incoming groceries and pantry item deliveries. Thank you! The afternoon was a very steady flow of families coming. Love that! The weather was quite warm, especially out away from the building. We did a quick BBQ on the patio in between AM and PM shifts, which is always great.

Groceries today came from St. Louise, Bellevue Presbyterian, Bellevue Christian Reformed, and Highland Covenant churches, as well as the Jubilee Friends group. A total of 128 orders came in and all went out to families today, including a few as food boxes carried over from yesterday. Thank you to everyone who participated today!

The market area was still full of food boxes today, so we did a semi-market again in the exit line.

Lots of extras came in today from the Neighbors Feeding Neighbors group, the Master Gardeners group, the QFC Crossroads, and the groceries.

Available today were apples, onions, potatoes, fresh basil, fresh beans, fresh cucumber, strawberries, baguettes, frozen meat, dairy products, and more.

Thank you to everyone who stocked this pantry to well.

It has become a full-time job to keep the tables well-stocked, just to all the inventory gets out to families. 😊

Today was the last day for personal hygiene items to be offered. The lobby has been flipped now to be ready to offer bulk ingredient foods tomorrow. Thank you to everyone who stocked the pantry this week.

A quick shout out to those continuing to supply dog food, cat food, and cat litter.

These items are offered daily, and those with pets are very, very important. As they say, pets are people too, you know! Thank you to all of you who support this area of the program so well.

An update from Ken:

Many of you are following along the running story of the wife whose husband receiving treatment for brain tumor. Today she was here and seemed very sad. Asked how she was doing, all she said was “keep praying”. I’m very worried. Please do pray for their family and for healing. The last chemo should be done in two weeks. Then comes the MRI scan, which will show whether the tumor has been impacted. If anyone would like to bring her/them a card of encouragement, please drop it off to me at Jubilee.

An email from a family and a program update:

As you’ve been reading, two weeks ago about 85 families departed the program and another 15 or so last week. So far this week, there have been 17 who have returned. Most have simply shown up in person and asked to come back into the program. Here’s an email from one man last Friday to Daniel:

“Hi Daniel, I was hoping that you would allow me to continue receiving food from jubilee during this time. I thought that I didn't need it, but my family is doing good because of this program. Please let me know if we can come back, thank you.”

This is a typical reasoning. As families departed, they thought they could be self-supporting. Now, one or two weeks later, they are finding it isn’t possible. There’s not enough work yet. Work shifts are unreliable. Money doesn’t stretch far enough.

Of course, all have been reinstated immediately back into the program. We have plans to call other families who left recently to check on how they are doing. There may be others who are now suffering, who aren’t reaching back out.

As you read yesterday, families from the waiting list were called to enter the program. Twenty-six came yesterday. Another 10 came today. About 15 no longer needed the help or the contact info was wrong. There are still about 19 who we haven’t yet reached.

With the returning families and additions from the waiting list, there are now about 483 families in the program, up from 430 on Monday. We are confident with this adjustment and are trusting food will be available for those who come daily. If you have friends who are not connected to a partner church and would like to bring groceries, they can do so through the Jubilee Friends link: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/60b0b49a5aa2ba3fd0-jubilee. Feel free to post this on your social media and spread the word.

Please continue to pray for these families. Thank you for all the actions you are taking to support them. It all matters and is exactly where we should all be.

What a lovely evening it is out there. May you be enjoying it somewhere nice.

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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