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Sunday, November 30, 2014

Meet Our Members: Lifelong AIDS Alliance & Chicken Soup Brigade

Last summer, Lifelong Aids Alliance food production and grocery packaging facility relocated to a new Meal Production Center in Georgetown, a neighborhood south of downtown Seattle.  This new location will allow Lifelong to increase their ability to produce 450,000 meals and 70,000 grocery bags within five years.  The new space increased the square footage of their kitchen by 250%.  With generous donations from many donors they were also able to buy new kitchen equipment such as large mixers, baking pans, bowls and utensils.  The move was made possible by a $500,000 challenge grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.  An additional $1.5 million was raised to match this grant from generous foundations and donors.
The new space also includes a bright, colorful warehouse which is large enough to distribute 1.5 million pounds of food per year.  Their walk in food bank remains located in Seattle’s Capitol Hill neighborhood.  Chicken Soup Brigade’s (LLAA food program name) clients have specific health challenges, such as HIV, diabetes, kidney disease, cancers, or disabling arthritis. Most are living below the Federal Poverty Level, and all require assistance in managing their nutritional health. Chicken Soup offers a comprehensive food and nutrition program designed not only to feed people but to nourish them.  Their motto that Food Is Medicine is enforced in the quality food programming they offer. 
Grocery Program: Bags of groceries include dairy and meats, fresh produce, a variety of easily prepared comfort foods, and tasty snacks. Last year, Chicken Soup Brigade provided food and nutrition services to 1,591 people in the Puget Sound region. They distributed 36,330 grocery bags and served 149,872 meals.
Meal Program: Homemade meals are prepared in their kitchen, and then are frozen for convenient reheating by their clients at a later time.  Most meals meet the nutritional guidelines of the American Heart Association and American Diabetes Association. Specialized meals meeting diets such as vegetarian, no gluten/no dairy or easy digestion are available. (To be eligible to receive these services, a client must be living with a chronic medical condition and meet some other specific criteria.)

They hope to in the near future create a community kitchen, which would increase access to healthy food by giving people the space, equipment, and help required to prepare nutritious meals.











Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Please, give a few minutes of your time on Thursday to protect EFAP!

A message from Northwest Harvest:


This Thursday, November 20th, Washington State's Senators, both newly elected and returning members, will be in Olympia. This is a GREAT opportunity for us to tell them why they must protect and strengthen the Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) in the 2015-2017 budget.

We realize that anti-hunger agencies are crazy busy right now with the holidays fast approaching-we really do. It may even be busier than usual with the temporary cuts to food stamps that has affected so many of your clients. But if you can take just a minute or two on Thursday 11/20/2014, you really could make a big difference for hungry families and for your own program.

  • Think of a client story which illustrates the need for increasing support for state funding for food banks and protecting the food safety net programs in our state. Perhaps someone who is employed and still struggling to make ends meet, or a senior who is going without enough nutritious food in order to have enough money left to pay for their prescriptions or medical care.
  • Take a few minutes to call the State Legislative Hotline THIS THURSDAY 11/20/2014 (1-800-562-6000) Tell the operator you would like to leave a message for your State Senator. Tell them: your name and the program you represent, and say, "It is important to _________(first name of client) that you protect and strengthen the Emergency Food Assistance Program during the legislative session." Tell them your client's story in a sentence or two that explains who your client is and how the food bank is making a difference in his or her life. It's important to put a human face on the issue.
  • Please, if you are able to make this crucial call, take a quick moment to email one of us and let us know that you've done so. This would help us in our continued effort to follow up with not only your legislators, but with those of you who are engaged in advocacy efforts. We'd also like to hear your client stories, either via email or phone. Contact Christina Wong at christinaw@northwestharvest.org or Paige Collins paigec@northwestharvest.org. 

Thank you for taking time out of your busy day to let our State Senators know that we need their help in the fight against hunger!

Wednesday, November 12, 2014

Another Person's Treasure















The evening of November 29th, 2014 marks a truly unique event happening on Capitol Hill in Seattle...Another Person’s Treasure will feature local art and culinary expertise. The theme is based on the phrase, “one person’s trash is another person’s treasure,”. The art pieces and meal are designed to touch on the issue of perceived waste in our everyday lives.

APT will showcase the talented minds and hands of Brothers Catering and many local artists. Art pieces will make use of discarded, recycled, and re-purposed materials. The meal will be sourced from local purveyors using produce seconds that are commercially considered “less than perfect” but are still entirely delicious.

Washington Food Coalition is honored to be a part of ...Another Person's Treasure as the sole beneficiary of the event. Whether you are a foodie, an art enthusiast or have a strong desire to fight hunger in Washington State, we encourage all in the Seattle area to attend. 

Monday, November 3, 2014

Meet Our Members: Hopelink

Hopelink provides a strong web of support throughout the Eastern side of King County, with its emergency food services being an important component of its vital services.
With 6 different food bank sites serving their community, Hopelink’s a busy organization. WFC Board Member, Scott Milne, works as the Food Program Manager for all of these sites.

Hopelink has an incredibly wise approach to food banking, stating:
When a family doesn't have enough food - the most basic human need - stability in other areas is impossible. Hopelink provides food for survival and nutrition education for self-sufficiency.
While our food banks help families in crisis, we also believe in helping families to make lasting change by learning about nutrition, safe food handling, and budgeting for groceries.
The Kirkland food bank location is the hub of their emergency food services. This location is open 24 hours a week, and offers after-work hours to accommodate working families. They also offer home delivery for neighbors in their community who are home bound. This location serves about 1200 unique households in the Kirkland area.

Hopelink is aiming long term to continue their increase in fresh foods available to clients and they offer a dignified self-selection shopping model (based on family size) at their Kirkland location. At this location, they also have a large area for weighing, sorting, and storing food until it go out on the shelves or to another Hopelink location. Their shared inventory system among all the sites ensures efficiency and aims for minimizing food waste.


An upcoming event that creates a lot of excitement in the Hopelink food banks is their Christmas distribution program. On the 11th of December, the staff and volunteers will begin transforming the food bank into a gift wonderland. Then, on December 18-23, families will be able to come ‘shop’ for gifts for the children in their home.
See more images from our visit below!