Quarterly Newsletter | Winter 2024 | |
|
From 2022 to 2023, new neighbor visits to Washington food banks increased 33%, and neighbors that visited a food bank multiple times increased 28%.* At the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank, we saw a 44% increase in the average number of households visiting our market per shopping week in 2023 vs. 2022.
* Washington State Department of Agriculture
| |
|
From the Director
Happy New Year! I hope you all enjoyed the holidays and are feeling excited about the promise of a new year and a fresh start. Our team has returned to work post-holidays, excited and ready for the challenges of 2024. ... READ MORE
| |
Firefighters Are Food Bank Heroes | |
We are honored to have a wide variety of partners in addressing food insecurity in our community, but the only one that comes with a big red truck and a siren is Eastside Fire & Rescue... READ MORE | |
Thank You for Holiday Gifts! | |
|
"I don’t have enough words to convey how the IFCB has impacted our family, especially the Holiday Gifts program. There are so many feelings surrounding the holidays. We feel joy, anticipation, and excitement for sure, but there is also worry, guilt, shame, and hopelessness when you can’t quite make ends meet…" READ MORE
| | |
|
Spotlight on Advocacy
Reducing food insecurity in an equitable, sustainable way requires proactively mitigating poverty, enhancing a supportive safety net, and dismantling systems of racial and socio-economic injustice. Here are just some of the key policies, legislative priorities, and budget provisos to learn more about and keep an eye on in 2024... READ MORE
| |
Reducing the Groceries to Go Wait List | |
|
We've made changes to our Groceries to Go home delivery program starting February 8! To balance rising need with volunteer effort, we've added Thursday as a delivery day to the existing Tuesday and Wednesday deliveries. This allows us to add 16 households that were on the waiting list and grow from 21 over-capacity routes to 26 better-balanced routes while also giving us room to meet future needs. Thank you to all our fabulous volunteers and drivers for helping us make this happen for our neighbors! MORE INFO
|
|
Upcoming Opportunities and Events! | |
|
There are always great events and opportunities to volunteer, donate, attend, or do all three! For more information on any of these, just reach out to steve@issaquahfoodbank.org.
- Lunch for the Break
- Fri. 2/16
- Thurs. 4/4
-
Food donation days (Priority Needs List) (Location)
- Sat. 2/10, 11a – 1p
- Thurs. 2/15, 1 – 3:30p
- Thurs. 2/29, 1 – 3:30p
- Sat. 3/9, 9:30a – 12p
- Thurs. 3/14, 1 – 3:30p
- Mon. 3/18, 1 – 3:30p
- Thurs. 3/28, 1 – 3:30p
- Mon. 4/1, 1 – 3:30p
- Thurs. 4/11, 1 – 3:30p
- Events
- Illuminating Hope fireworks show, Thurs. 7/4
- Recipe for Hope, Tues. 10/1
- Issaquah Turkey Trot, Thurs. 11/28
| |
|
Event Sponsors Wanted!
Our annual fundraising events rely on financial support from sponsors in the business community. Sponsorship packages for the 2024 Illuminating Hope fireworks show, Recipe for Hope breakfast/lunch, and Issaquah Turkey Trot will be available soon, and we encourage you to let us know of local (and even not so local) businesses that might support these vital efforts while getting valuable exposure themselves. Check our sponsorship opportunities page for our previous offerings and to get this year's info as soon as it's available. Contact steve@issaquahfoodbank.org with any questions or ideas!
| |
|
We're Hiring!
Do you know someone who would be a great addition to our team? We're looking for a Program Coordinator for all aspects of our special programs, including home delivery, youth programs, Holiday Gift Program, and KidVantage clothing partnership... READ MORE
|
|
|
But Wait, There's More!
If you receive only our quarterly e-newsletter, you're missing out on the great stories in our twice-yearly print newsletters! You can read all our newsletters online any time at https://bit.ly/ifcb-newsletters-media,
| |
|
Issaquah Sammamish
Food Project
This vital project contributed almost 70,000 pounds of food in 2023! Join hundreds of Eastside neighbors in their efforts to collect and donate food through the Issaquah Sammamish Food Project!
| |  |
Help Wishes Come True!
Our Amazon Wish List makes it easy to donate some of our most needed items and have them delivered directly to the food bank with just a click:
| | | | | |
