Snohomish Community Foodbank - Snohomish, WA

The Snohomish Community Food Bank
1330 Ferguson Park Road
Snohomish, WA 98290
(360) 568-7993

http://www.snohomishcommunityfoodbank.org/


Mission Statement

The Snohomish Community Food Bank is a non-profit organization of individuals, churches, businesses, service clubs and other charitable groups who are concerned for the welfare of needy people within the community. This life-giving resource exists to provide basic foods and services to qualified recipients in a caring, dignified and humane manner. The Food Bank serves every qualified applicant within the boundaries of the Snohomish School District and is supported solely through donations and community volunteers who solicit, manage and distribute it’s reserves. Since 1985, local citizens have screened beneficiaries, collected and distributed food, and provided social services on a weekly basis.






I contacted Karen Guzak (Mayor of Snohomish and Owner of Yoga Circle Studio - see previous post) about community service time when I was in Oroville, Wa. I asked her if she had any recommendations for directions in which I could focus my volunteer time while in Snohomish, Wa. She said that she would do some sleuthing and get back to me. I got an e-mail later that day with the contact information for the Executive Director of the Snohomish County Food Bank.

The day after I arrived in Snohomish I called the Executive Director, Elizabeth Grant and left her a message. I was hoping to give my time there the next day and began to get a little nervous when I hadn't heard back by that next morning. I called a second time and Elizabeth answered. She was very nice and said that they were open that afternoon and could use me then. I attended a yoga class at Karen's studio that morning, had some lunch, and then headed over to see what the Snohomish Community Food Bank had in store for me.

Beyond knowing they exist I didn't know anything about foodbanks, how they were run, where they got their food, or who their patrons were. Upon entering I introduced myself to Elizabeth and told her that I was ready to help. As with all of my Trip and the Trade volunteer opportunities, I made myself available for whatever they needed. She said that I could start out by helping in the stock room organizing donations.








I was showed back to the stockroom and introduced to another volunteer, you can see her in the photo above. She was a sweet girl who immediately started to explain the organization process. I was pleasantly surprised to see the high level of organization upon which this facility is run. It turns out that donations come from many places: food drives, generous citizens, grocery stores, and foods issued by the government.






Crates were stacked along all the walls and were labeled for easy sorting - soups go here, beans over there, canned vegetables over here, etc. While she and I worked, three more volunteers were brought back to help us. These three girls (photo below) were local high school students working on a required volunteer project. I noticed along my trip that many high schools are now requiring a certain amount of community service from each student before they graduate. What a wonderful way to get people involved in there community early! They were all very nice and eager to jump in and help.






After I spent an hour or so sorting, Elizabeth moved me out into the store area. I was put in charge of a station containing government issued foods. I had canned meats, bagged almonds, apple juice, boxes of soup, baby diapers, formula, and other assorted baby items.



My looking dapper in my Snohomish Community Food Bank apron






Produce





My station was across from the produce section. Another thing I noticed about this facility is the high quality of food that they offer. The produce looked great! They even had pumpkins for Halloween and pomegranates! The pumkins were donated by a fundraiser called the 'Pumpkin Float' (I think...). Instead of letting the pumpkins they used go to waste, the organizers brought all the pumpkins down to the foodbank. What a great idea!

Me assisting one of the clients

The patrons of the food bank are referred to by staff and volunteers as clients. Each station was run by a volunteer like myself. Either the volunteer is told the amount that each client is allowed or signs are posted on things like produce with the maximum number allowed for each item.

As each client approached the station before mine, I was told to look for a certain code stuck to the front of their cart with a post-it. If they had this code, they were allowed to choose one item from the government issued foods over which I was in charge. If they had another code they were given diapers and formula (if they wanted it). The diapers were organized by size and I only had to tell one or two clients that I did not have the size they needed - I was pretty well stocked. :)


Here is one of the clients and myself, he was kind enough to pose with me for the blog :)

Here is another one of the clients, he had a good sense of humor and thought it was pretty funny that I wanted to take his photo

I worked at my station for 2 to 3 more hours greeting clients and handing out food. Now I'm going to bare my soul a little bit and be very honest. When Elizabeth put me out on the store floor (and I'm so glad she did), I struggled for the first hour or so with judgement. I never let it show but inside I was fighting thoughts like: "What's the matter with these people?" "Why don't they get a job and buy their own food?" "Some of them have nicer shoes on than I do!"

I mention these thoughts and offer up my honesty to highlight the transition that happened in those few hours that I spent assisting clients. Yoga has taught me not to judge my own thoughts or their existence but rather to acknowledge them and to let them go. I employed this practice and low and behold, my thoughts of judgement transitioned into kindness, the willingness to offer dignity, and generosity. I realized that I knew nothing about the lives of these people, their struggles, or their situations. Some of these people are picking up food for their elderly parents, friends, or neighbors. Some have disabilities making them unable to work. Some of these people are retired and on fixed incomes, perhaps they are retired veterans who served the U.S. in the armed forces - the point is...I had no way of knowing. I felt great peace once I worked through my own judgement and enjoyed assisting each person.

My trainer and smiley volunteer

Elizabeth Grant, Executive Director

My experience at the Snohomish Community Food Bank was one of the most profound of The Trip and the Trade. During the time I spent there I gained far more than I gave. I walked out the doors realizing that blind judgement is ridiculous and that along with necessities, sometimes the most important thing you can offer someone is kindness and dignity. I hope that any of you that have an opportunity to volunteer in your local foodbank will seek it out and do it, the reward is great. Thank you so much to Karen Guzak and Elizabeth Grant for affording me the opportunity to release judgement and give to your community.