Showing posts with label hopelink. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hopelink. Show all posts

433 pounds of food donated but much more needed

Wednesday, December 7, 2011

The Ridgecrest Neighborhood continues its push for non-perishable food donations to benefit the Shoreline branch of Hopelink. As of December 6th, a total of 433 pounds of food and $33 in cash have been donated by area residents.

  • 332 lbs donated at Cafe Aroma at NE 165th and 5th NE
  • 57 lbs donated at Java Jolt at NE 185th and 10th NE
  • 44 lbs and $33 in cash donated at the North City Tree Lighting

The need in the Shoreline area is still huge as we approach the Christmas and Hanukkah holidays. 

Everyone can help -- even if you aren't a Ridgecrest resident -- by dropping a donation at Cafe Aroma or Java Jolt coffee drive-thru locations...you don't even have to get out of your car!

Thanks so much to all that have already donated and Happy Holidays!



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Food Lifeline: Hunger and food banks in Shoreline and Lake Forest Park

Monday, November 21, 2011

By Diane Hettrick

Food banks in western Washington have their own territories, which do not necessarily coincide with the boundaries of the old city of Lake Forest Park or the new city of Shoreline. To add to the confusion, Shoreline is home to the largest hunger relief organization in the state - Food Lifeline - and while it does not give food to individuals, it is technically a "food bank."

Ashley Gammell, Corporate Relations Manager of Food Lifeline, explains:
"Washington State has unique hunger relief terminology and we are what is considered a Food Bank by the rest of the country. By local standards, we are considered a food distribution organization or a comprehensive hunger relief organization since we also distribute non-food resources and have an active presence in the basic needs public policy arena at the state and local level. 
Food Lifeline is the largest hunger relief organization in the state and serves the 17 counties of Western Washington through a network of 300 food banks, meal programs, and shelters. In fact, last year alone we distributed over 27 million meals through our network of member food banks, meal programs, and shelters to over 745,000 unique individuals."

Hopelink Shoreline, located next to Marshalls in the Sears Aurora Square shopping area, is one of the 300 agencies which regularly receives products from Food Lifeline for distribution to individuals and families through its local area food bank.

Leslie Brooks, Manager of Hopelink, has been canvassing the community, asking local organizations to set up regular food drives to benefit Hopelink. 

She said, "People are concerned that the food they contribute will stay in the local community. The truth is that we don't have enough local contributions of food or money to support the need in Shoreline. Every month we have to bring in food from the other Hopelink locations. And every month, the need is greater."

Ashley says that typically, the food that Food Lifeline goes after is much larger in quantity than an agency such as Hopelink would be able to process, i.e. a 40,000 lb. semi-truck filled with 1,000 pound boxes of apples. Their thriving volunteer program is largely dedicated to taking large donations like that and repacking them so that they can be handed out by local food banks to seniors and families.

Volunteers also sort fresh and perishable product donated through their retail grocery program. "We can book volunteer groups as large as 60 people at a time and had 9,000 volunteers donate their time last year." Windermere Shoreline spent a day recently repacking frozen peas. (see story)

North Helpline is another of the local food banks that Food Lifeline helps support. Located just off Lake City Way in north Seattle, it serves not only the Lake City area, but up Bothell Way into Lake Forest Park and North City. North Helpline currently has a Buy a Bag program with Safeway, where shoppers can pay $10 for a prepacked bag of food which will be given to North Helpline. (see story)

Does Food Lifeline have food drives? How do they get their contributions?
Ashley responds, "While we do have a program that accommodates community food drives, it is something we view more as an opportunity to educate the community about hunger rather than an efficient way to source food. Because of our large infrastructure and our affiliation with Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network, we can procure food much more efficiently through other means by using cash contributions on things such as freight and shipping costs on donated bulk loads of pasta, veggies, and proteins from other regions. 
"That is how we are able to maintain only a 4% administrative overhead and provide three meals with each donated dollar we receive. Often, we partner with large companies on cause-related marketing campaigns with a food drive component. 
"We strive to always keep the food drive product we collect in its community of origin, unless specifically directed to do otherwise by the donor."

Another local partner for Food Lifeline is POPY's Cafe, sponsored by the Dale Turner YMCA and the Prince of Peace Lutheran Church of Shoreline. Held at Bethel Lutheran Church in Shoreline, POP church volunteers serve a full dinner to anyone who shows up, every Wednesday evening.  POPY's is serving Thanksgiving Dinner on November 23rd.

If someone has access to large resources, how can they connect with Food Lifeline?
"Any company that sells, distributes or produces food and can make donations that are over 1,000 pounds per donation cycle is a great candidate to be a Food Lifeline Full Plate partner. We also work with grocery retail chains through our Grocery Rescue program and Seattle area restaurants and caterers through our Seattle’s Table program (more information about those programs here).

Other than volunteering to repackage food, how can community members help?
"People in the community who wish to support Food Lifeline’s work by making a cash donation can donate online or can text the word MEALS to 52000 and a ten dollar donation to Food Lifeline will be added to their monthly mobile phone bill. Food Lifeline can provide an entire day of nutritious meals to a hungry person with every $1 donation."

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Ridgecrest neighborhood food drive for HopeLink

Friday, November 4, 2011

The Ridgecrest Neighborhood Association is responding to the need expressed by Shoreline HopeLink by sponsoring a food drive from now until Christmas.

The collection point is Café Aroma, in the heart of Ridgecrest, kitty-corner from the Crest Theatre.  They have a drive-thru, so people can quickly drop off small amounts, or you can park to bring in larger amounts.  All will be welcome.

The food drive starts now and will run through Christmas, so everyone will have many opportunities to help.

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Shoreline food bank is running out of food - and needs your help

Tuesday, November 1, 2011

Budget cuts, the end of the summer gardening season and a drop in donations are not good news for the 400 local families who rely on Hopelink’s Shoreline food bank every month.

Center Manager Leslie Brooks said supply is down while demand continues to rise.
“In September, we were able to distribute only about 20,000 pounds of food to those in need of help – down from a monthly average of 25,000-30,000 pounds,” Brooks said. “A lot more people are struggling to get by, and it is always difficult to tell a family there simply isn’t enough food. But unfortunately, that’s the reality right now.”

Over the summer, community organizations, church groups and local gardeners generously shared their fruits and vegetables with the food bank, Brooks said. But during the fall and winter months, replacing that supply is difficult.
“We don’t have the budget to buy produce,” she said, “especially when we need to purchase so many of the basic food supplies our families need to get by.”

Brooks said community food drives are one of the best ways to help stock the shelves, and that even small groups can make a big difference. 

The greatest need continues to be “shelf-stable” items:
  • Canned fruit and vegetables
  • Peanut butter
  • Tuna
  • Rice
  • Pasta
  • Canned beans and prepared meals
  • Cereal and oatmeal

The Shoreline Center is one of five Hopelink food banks in the north and east King county area, and the only one serving the west side.

To donate or host a food drive, stop by the Hopelink Shoreline Center at 15809 Westminster Way N. on Monday through Friday between 9 am and 5 pm, or call center manager Leslie Brooks at 206-440-7300.


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Hopelink’s End Summer Hunger program selected as Groupon “G-Team” campaign

Wednesday, August 3, 2011

Beginning today, Hopelink is teaming up with Groupon to raise funds for End Summer Hunger through the online company’s website. Groupon is an international company that offers one major deal every day for local restaurants, goods and services, with discounts of 50 percent or more. “G-Team” is Groupon’s charitable wing, where they help nonprofits and others raise money for their causes. 

Hopelink’s End Summer Hunger was selected as the featured Seattle-area campaign for August 2-4, enabling subscribers to make a one-time, one-click $13 donation to Hopelink through the Groupon website. The $13 donation will pay for two weeks worth of food for a child on summer break.

Mother and son at food bank.  Photo courtesy Hopelink.

End Summer Hunger is Hopelink’s annual grassroots campaign aimed at ensuring that school kids have enough to eat during the summer months. The fund and food drives – running through August – bring together local businesses, organizations, schools and individuals to help provide low-income families with food for kids who receive free and reduced-fee breakfasts and lunches during the school year.

The campaign takes on the gap in regular nutritious daytime meals for kids who are on summer break, while also addressing increasing demand at Hopelink’s five emergency service centers while the school programs are on hiatus. The proceeds from End Summer Hunger will stock the food banks for the high-demand summer months.

Launched in November 2008, Groupon features a daily deal on the best stuff to do, see, eat, and buy in 43 countries. The company has about 7,000 employees working across the Chicago headquarters, a growing office in Palo Alto, CA, local markets throughout North America and regional offices in Europe, Latin America, Asia and around the world. The company has more than 50 million subscribers in the United States and recently filed a $750 million IPO.


Since 1971, Hopelink has served homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities in north and east King County by promoting self-sufficiency for all members of our community and helping people make lasting change. Hopelink assists people with meeting their needs for food, shelter, homelessness prevention, family development and stabilization, transportation and adult literacy skills. 

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New Community Garden at Calvin Presbyterian bears bumper crop

Saturday, July 2, 2011

Ribbon Cutting Tuesday, July 5 at 6 pm in the garden with members of the Shoreline City Council, the Mayor, and members of the Calvin Garden community.

by Anne-Marie Heckt, Manager, Community Garden at Calvin

If you drive by the corner of Third Northwest and Richmond Beach Road regularly, you may have noticed the vegetable beds bursting with snap pea blossoms. Maybe you've seen a volunteer pulling a giant radish, or a group of third grade girls planting tiny carrot seeds. The seeds may be a bit randomly planted, the girls may do more running and rolling down the hill than planting, and the concrete border may be only half done, but this garden is growing.

In February, a coalition of volunteers broke ground on a new community vegetable garden, hoping to lease out plots to the local community and encourage growing and eating healthy food. The plots have filled slowly with a variety of gardeners, but in the meantime, volunteers have sown crops for the foodbank: a handful of lettuce here, a few rows of radishes there. Imagine their surprise when the first picking yielded ten gallon bags of mixed greens, soon to become fifteen per week.

A rich weaving of relationships has sprouted as well, with the City of Shoreline and Hopelink partnering with the managers from Calvin Presbyterian. Several regular volunteers belong to the church, but many are from the local community. One group of families from Madrona K-8 school in Edmonds has adopted a plot to grow for the foodbank, another gardener has taken on an extra plot for Hopelink in addition to his own, and a helpful renter across the street comes over with her children once a week to help with the watering.

Over 90 pounds of organic produce have been delivered to Hopelink since mid-May.

The youth at Calvin made the garden their first stop for a summer of local service projects, and a number of retirees helped dig, break ground and haul turf at the first work day. Teens have flexed their muscles with hauling mulch, and the head pastor wielded a pick-axe to break up compacted ground for the raspberry patch alongside elders and children.

One thing is certain, things and people will continue to grow in the garden at the corner of Third and Richmond Beach NW. Stop by and say hi - or come on a Monday afternoon and we'll put you to work picking peas for the food bank, or planting a crooked row of seeds, or two.

If you want to rent a plot the fee is minimal. Stop by and chat with us, leave your contact info with the church secretary, 206-542-6181, or send at email attention: Anne-Marie, the garden manager.

Calvin Presbyterian is located at 18826 3rd Avenue, Shoreline, WA 98177.  The Garden is on the corner of 3rd NW and Richmond Beach Road.  

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Highland Terrace Elementary students raise more than $6,500 for Hopelink

Saturday, June 18, 2011

Highland Terrace Elementary School Principal Mike VanOrden and Student Council members present a check for $6,586.25 to Leslie Brooks, Shoreline Center Manager for Hopelink. Photo by Frank Kleyn.

The 360 students at Highland Terrace Elementary School in Shoreline may be young, but they are already making a significant difference in their community.

On May 19, the students held a walkathon fundraiser for Hopelink that collected $6,586.25 for the Redmond-based nonprofit -- the largest amount of money ever raised by an elementary school for the agency's annual "End Summer Hunger" drive.

Student Council members and Highland Terrace Elementary School Principal Mike VanOrden presented the check to Hopelink’'s Leslie Brooks during an end-of-year assembly Friday, June 17 at the school.

Student council members say they chose Hopelink because of the direct services the agency provides to families in the Shoreline area, and as a result of their efforts, more families will receive the help they need to get back on their feet.

Hopelink’'s Shoreline Center Manager Leslie Brooks said the summer months can be a particularly challenging time for families who are already struggling to make ends meet. 
“School lunches are often the most nutritious meal of the day for children in low-income families,” Brooks said. "“When school is out for the summer, we see a lot more people asking for help in filling that need – families who are already squeezing every penny out of their budgets.”"

The money raised will help Hopelink address the higher summer demand on its food banks, when the additional food needed by families with children on summer break costs about $13 per child for a two-week period.

The Shoreline Hopelink is one of five Hopelink locations in north and east King County which help children, seniors and people with disabilities by providing food, shelter, homelessness prevention, family development and stabilization, transportation and adult literacy skills.

Since 1971, Hopelink has served homeless and low-income families, children, seniors and people with disabilities in north and east King County. Hopelink promotes self-sufficiency for all members of our community and helps people make lasting change by assisting people to meeting their needs for food, shelter, homelessness prevention, family development and stabilization, transportation and adult literacy skills. More information on Hopelink and its services, 425-869-6000.

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Hopelink Food Bank supplies are low

Thursday, March 18, 2010

By Leslie Brooks, Center Manager, Hopelink Shoreline/Lake Forest Park

In February 2010, the Hopelink food bank in Shoreline served 379 families with over 23,000 pounds of food. Our current supply of food is less than 5,000 pounds which will last approximately one week. Please consider donating food or holding a food drive in support of Hopelink. The most needed items are canned fruit and vegetables, soup, beans, rice, pasta, peanut butter, tuna and oatmeal.

Since 1971, Hopelink has helped low income families, senior citizens and people with disabilities to meet the everyday challenges of life, as well as make plans and take steps for changing their lives for the better. Hopelink helps residents in north and east King County meet a variety of needs, from housing, food and transportation to appointments, to help paying their energy bills and building job skills.

Hopelink is a nonprofit organization supported by private donations, grants and public funding. With a talented staff of 250 and a dedicated volunteer corps of nearly 2,000, Hopelink touches the lives of 50,000 people every year through emergency service centers in Shoreline, Carnation, Bellevue, Redmond and Kirkland, eight housing facilities and county-wide transportation services (DART bus service and transportation to medical appointments for Medicaid DSHS clients).

In Shoreline, Hopelink provides food bank, energy assistance, rent assistance, adult education and family development. We rely on the hard work of volunteers to help us in our food bank, talk time classes, and tutoring. 

If you need help or want to help, call the Shoreline Hopelink 206-440-7300. Food donations can be brought to the facility at 15809 Westminster Way N, Shoreline, WA‎ 98133 in the lower level of the Aurora Square (Sears) Shopping Center, next to Marshall's.

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SCC's MLK Day Food Drive tops 25,000 lb. goal

Wednesday, January 20, 2010


By Donna Myers,
Public Information Office
Shoreline Community College


Question: Can a group of Shoreline Community College students who find inspiration in the words and example of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., collect 25,000 pounds of donated food in just one day?

Answer: No, they can collect 26,233 pounds in one day, add to the total the next day and then donate it all to local food banks.

“Martin Luther King Jr. Day was declared a national day of service by Congress in 1994,” said Kaelyn Caldwell, SCC’s service-learning coordinator. “What better way to honor Dr. King than to bring a community together to help others on his day?”


The project involved putting donation sites and volunteers in front of nine participating grocery stores across the north end of King County on Monday, January 18, 2010. While the project was coordinated through the Center for Service Learning, Caldwell also worked with SCC Veterans Center coordinator Jonathan Phillips and student Ava Munson, who serves in student government as Minister of Social Justice. A number of college administrators and staff also volunteered for the project.

Funding for effort came from the Dr. Ronald E. Bell Student Leadership Fund through the SCC Foundation.
“Local food banks and the people who rely on them are suffering. Demand is increasing while donations are not,” Caldwell said. Food banks in the Shoreline/North Seattle area have reported a 30 percent increase in the use of their emergency food services, she said.
The drive’s goal was ambitious, to collect 25,000 pounds of food. What seemed an audacious target at the start of the day began to look attainable as the donations piled up. After the 5:30 p.m. project close, volunteers brought the donations back to campus.
The total surprised even the most committed volunteers. “We gathered 26,233 pounds of food,” Caldwell said. “Surpassing our goal was really gratifying.”
The drive continued Tuesday, January 19, at the school with more donations from students, faculty and staff. “This is a great example of what service learning is all about,” Caldwell said. “It’s taking the lessons of the classroom into the community, putting learning to work.”

All donations will be distributed to partnering food banks, including: Hopelink, the Greenwood Food Bank and North Helpline/Lake City Food Bank.

In October 2007, the college joined Washington Campus Compact, a statewide coalition of colleges and universities to promote service learning. Washington Campus Compact has a grant from AmeriCorps*VISTA to help serve people in poverty through service learning.

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Spartan Gym patrons donate to HopeLink

Tuesday, January 5, 2010


Patrons of the Spartan Recreation Center, located on the grounds of the Shoreline Center on 1st NE, collected food for the Hopelink food bank throughout 2009. The resulting donation totalled 1,297 pounds of food with a monetary value of $1,922. 

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