Fasting for Northwest Harvest

Today I want to share with you a really terrific event happening this evening that is hosted by the Muslim Students Association of the University of Washington. It's a Fast-a-Thon, and they host it not only to raise awareness of hunger and support Northwest Harvest but you'll be surprised at what else they do, too. I won't give it away, though -- you'll have to watch the video above and see for yourself!

Thanks, MSA, for your support of Northwest Harvest!

Volunteers from Around the World!

The week before that big snow and ice storm hit we had a group of 12 high school students from Brazil volunteering at Cherry Street Food Bank for the afternoon. They are Youth Ambassadors from the World Affairs Council spending about three months in the United States volunteering and then taking their experiences back to their country.

They were incredibly bright, energetic and motivated and they helped repack oats and work the line handing out food to clients. We always feel lucky when groups like theirs stop by. We learn as much from them as they do from us!



Derek being interviewed by the film crew.

They had a Brazilian camera crew following them for a show that will detail their U.S. adventures once they return home. Our food bank manager, Derek, was interviewed and he described the work they did at the food bank that day as well as the overall impact our volunteers have. Did you know that last year we had 6,500 volunteers who contributed about 88,730 hours - the equivalent of 42 full-time employees?
January, February and March are typically slow times for us for volunteers -- in Kent, Yakima and Spokane. If you're interested in lending a hand you can learn more here!



"Our Christmas Meal"

For Christmas this year, we'll be offering our network of food banks and meal programs whole chickens to distribute to their clients along with an assortment of other nutritious foods to round out their holiday meal. We polled food bank visitors last year to ask them what they'd most like to see this year and while they like turkey and gravy for Thanksgiving, there was a strong preference for whole chickens at Christmas. Below, I tell you a little more about that preference as well as what else we'll be offering this holiday season and how you can help.

Happy holidays, everyone!

"Hey Santa! Over Here!"

It's one of our favorite days here at Cherry Street Food Bank, when Santa Claus himself (really it's one of our long-time volunteers, Bob) pays a visit and treats the kiddos to a free photo with him and lots of gifts and holiday cookies. Our staff and volunteers get really excited about this day as it's a time when we can kind of forget about how tough things can be for a little while and just enjoy watching the children have fun. Some LOVE Santa and can hardly wait to run up to him and sit on his lap, while others would clearly rather be elsewhere.

Each year, our partner programs manager Joyce Zeigen volunteers her time and talent as a photographer to take the pictures and for that we are most grateful. We do have to rent all the equipment, though, including a printer so we can give the families an instant photo to take home, and a backdrop. Anyone have any leads for someone who could donate this to us next year? It's expensive to rent but our families really love it. If you have any suggestions or can lend a hand, please give our food bank manager Derek a call at 206-923-7457.

In the meantime, check out a little video of the morning's chaos and you'll see why this is a day we all anticipate so much!

"Boeing is in the House!"

I was in Kent recently to do some filming with KING 5 for Home Team Harvest. The film crew really wanted to get some shots of a group of volunteers processing food to illustrate how we can make a dollar stretch so far. How do we do it? We find some types of food for next to nothing in bulk and then use huge groups of volunteers to break it down and package it. Here, take a peek:

As you can see Boeing was in the house on this particular day. It's amazing how many different ways they help us, from volunteering to food drives to technical advice (LEAN Program) and even the donation of electronic scales to help us accurately weigh the food that volunteer groups process. They seem to love being with us and we are certainly very lucky to have them as one of many partners.

"Back At You!"

Most of the time here at Northwest Harvest, we're the people who give out food to more than 325 food banks, meal programs and high need schools around the state. But every now and then some of those programs receive food donated directly to them that they can't distribute and instead of letting it go to waste they will often bring it to us because they know we can redistribute it to other programs that might really be in need. Here's a great example. Meet Emily!

One of the things that make this process really slick is when the food bank or feeding program just happens to be coming to our Kent warehouse to pick up food anyway. That was the case for Emily, who was coming by on a Thursday for Supermarket Sweep - a program we offer to meal programs where they can shop for bulk items they need for their commercial kitchens. She was able to just drop off the bread she couldn't use and pick up food she did need. It was a win-win for all and another example of the way we partner with programs across the state to get food out to those in need.

"Thanksgiving at the Food Bank"

A lot of us are really fortunate in that we get to spend Thanksgiving with family and friends around a full table of food. Some of our neighbors in need are not so fortunate -- but they are incredibly grateful nevertheless, because they are the recipients of generosity from people like you! I was lucky enough to encounter two such men at Cherry Street Food Bank last week and I've been looking forward to sharing their gratitude with you.