Resources: Parent Trust for Washington Children

Becca Roy from the Parent Trust for Washington Children stopped by last Monday's Seattle Food Committee meeting to share information about the services they provide that might be helpful for food bank clients with children. Here's what she had to say:

Parent Trust for Washington Children (PTWC) is a locally-based, state-wide family support non-profit. We offer a range of family support services that are free to low-cost, which can all be found on our website: www.parenttrust.org. Two in particular we would like to highlight are the child development screening program and the Family Help Line, which are both FREE.

2011: Seattle Food Banks by the Numbers

Many Seattleites – just like many Americans – struggle to put enough food on their tables during these tough economic times. Seattle food banks help fill that gap and work to ensure families don’t go hungry. But Seattle food banks are also struggling to meet the increased need, coupled with a decrease in funding and donations.

See why in this review of the year 2011 by the numbers:

Seattle Food Banks: 2011

• TOTAL households served by Seattle Food Banks* in 2011: 702,238
• Percent change since 2007: +25%

Van Tour 2011!

Last Monday, nearly 40 leaders in the Seattle emergency food world converged on a number of locations around the City for the Seattle Food Committee’s van tour. The annual event provides food bank directors a chance to step back, check out what other programs are doing, swap best practices, and have a little fun.

Everyone on!

In addition to visiting food banks this year, the group also checked out a meal program and related support services like the Crisis Clinic and WithinReach. Everyone piled into the van and hopefully came away with some helpful hints:

1st Stop: 2-1-1
Staff at King County’s 2-1-1 Community Information Line connects over 6,000 callers a month to a dizzying array of community and government services. Among them? Food assistance programs such as food banks and meal programs!

Michael shows everyone the PMSC kitchen

2nd Stop: Pike Market Senior Center
Michael Montgomery heads up the Senior Center’s meal program which just began serving breakfast in addition to lunch 7 days a week. That’s 14 meals a week!







3rd Stop: Downtown Food Bank
Located in the Public Market Parking Garage, Kevin Futhey and his volunteers have to pallet-jack food deliveries by hand down a steep hill and clients enter through a narrow ramp in the garage. But they make the most out of a challenging location and have even built several raised garden beds into the hillside right outside.

Raised beds outside the Downtown Food Bank

New barn, complete with HUGE walk-in freezer

4th Stop: The Food Bank @ St. Mary’s
Space can be an issue at St. Mary’s, one of the busiest food banks in the City, which served nearly 5,500 households in the month of July. Deep, the Operations Manager at St. Mary’s, has it all worked out with a new, vertically gifted “barn” to store food.







5th Stop: WithinReach
These guys do so much, it’s hard to keep track! The local experts in State benefits and nutrition resources, WithinReach operates 4 statewide hotlines and a fabulous resource website called ParentHelp123.org.

Food Security Manager, Claire Lane, gave everyone some homework:

• Look up your food bank in their resource finder and check to make sure the info is accurate.



The whole group at WithinReach.

• Visit the Professionals section of their website and order FREE materials for clients!

Thank you to everyone who came and a double thank you to everyone who hosted us this year!

Check out more pictures from the tour here or here.

Join us for Hunger Action Day, February 25 in Olympia

Hunger Action Day is only a week away!
Register now

During each legislative session, the Anti-Hunger & Nutrition Coalition hosts Hunger Action Day in Olympia to advocate for hungry families in Washington. The Seattle Food Committee is represented on the steering committee of the Coalition and helps coordinate Hunger Action Day, so we are encouraging our supporters to join us in Olympia on February 25 to engage our legislators in the fight to end hunger in Washington.

This year’s Hunger Action Day is especially important as the state’s budget crisis will result in the elimination or significant reductions of critical services that help struggling families meet their basic needs, like keeping food on the table. One in seven households in Washington struggled to provide enough food for their family in 2010. Washington now ranks as the thirteenth hungriest state in the nation, and the problem of hunger in our communities will continue to grow unless we speak out.

Register today and join us in Olympia on February 25th—the success of our efforts in Olympia rely on your voices and the voices of those we serve being heard! Help us spread the word! Tell your friends, family and co-workers.

For more information on HAD2011, click here for the event info packet.

See you in Olympia!

Highlights from the 2010 Mayor's End Hunger Awards

Last month, over 140 representatives from food banks and meal programs across the city gathered together to share a meal and honor those who have made an extraordinary commitment to alleviating hunger in our community. Mayor Michael McGinn presented awards to six community heroes.

We present to you this year's Mayor's End Hunger Award Recipients!



Eliana Madwed, OPERATION: Sack Lunch
Community Volunteer (Meal Program)
Eliana collected donations for OSL instead of presents for her 13th birthday.



Rachael Bigham, Ballard Food Bank
Community Volunteer (Food Bank)
Rachael contributed original works of art to the Ballard Food Bank and North Helpline's new facilities.



Mark Your Calendars: St. Vincent de Paul's 3rd Annual "Friends of the Poor Walk"

Check out this great opportinity to help St. Vincent de Paul's food bank and the other vital services they provide:

Join tens of thousands of caring people in more than 100 cities across the country in St. Vincent de Paul's Friends of the Poor Walk on Saturday, September 25th at Kennedy High School in Burien. Enjoy fun and music and get some excercise while helping to raise funds and awareness for those in need. All funds donated will be used by local St. Vincent de Paul volunteers to prevent evictions, hunger, utility shut-offs and more.

For more information and to register, click here

Seattle Food Banks Hit the Road for the 2010 SFC Van Tour

Running a food bank can be a chaotic job. Between keeping food on the shelves, managing volunteers, and serving the ever-growing numbers of hungry community members, food bank staff rarely have a free moment to pause and check out the work being done by their neighbors, as well as consider the possibilities for change and innovation for their own programs. That is why once a year, in August, the Seattle Food Committee gathers for the SFC Van Tour to visit a handful of local food banks. We learn about their successes and challenges, see how they deliver services, and get to know eachother a bit better.

This year was as full and inspiring as ever. With 50 attendees, it would more accurately be called a caravan than a tour. We visited 5 food banks, all of which were operating out of new facilities (either new locations or remodeled spaces). No two food banks were alike, and they all offered unique ideas and inspiration for participants to take back to their own programs.

The 2010 SFC Van Tour sites included:

Ballard Food Bank

VOA Greenwood Food Bank

North Helpline Food Bank

Jewish Family Service Food Bank

Spiritual Miracles Food Bank

Thanks to these 5 amazing programs for hosting and to all who joined us that day. We can't wait until next year!

The lovely photos in this post were provided by Julie Washburn, Executive Director of the Washington Food Coalition. To view her full album from the day click here