Champion Spotlight – Christi Schumann
By Bonnie DeCaro-Monahan, Development Director

When Christi first contacted the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank in 2015, it was out of concern for children who needed help accessing healthy food during the summer months when school lunches were not readily available. Rather than learning that our Summer Lunch program covered that need and checking that box, Christi jumped in with both feet to be part of the solution. Her desire to help went far beyond her role with the PTA for her children’s school; it was her heart for those – especially children - experiencing food insecurity. In addition to helping with school food and toy drives, and volunteering for our Summer Lunch program, Christi and another volunteer, Kim Weiss, were instrumental in coordinating the launch of our Lunch for the Break program at a distribution site in Renton. “I was impressed with the food bank from my first meeting because of their work to meet so many community needs” shared Christi.

Christi quickly got involved with the Power Packs program, filling in the gaps to ensure that children had access to healthy food over the weekends. Christi recalled, “I remember one time when I arrived at the food bank to pick up Power Packs for my children's school. As the volunteers packed my car, I thought about how many steps and people it took to get these packs ready for our students. I just had one part; I needed to drive the Power Packs to school. The packs would be ready for teachers and counselors to distribute that Friday. If I wanted to help make sure kids at my school had extra food over the weekend, I didn't need to do it all myself. I could be a part of the food bank, which has developed systems to meet our community's needs. “

Once COVID hit in March 2020, Christi quickly adapted her volunteer role to accommodate our emergency operations model and drive-up distribution system. ”Along with the other volunteers helping with check-in and traffic, we went car to car in the parking lot and checked people in.” Christi added, “I've continued helping with check-in since then. Over the past two years, I've also had the opportunity to help with packing food boxes and sorting deliveries. I have also been a substitute driver to pick up food for the Grocery Rescue program and deliver food for Groceries to Go. I feel like I've gotten to participate at least a little bit in almost every program at the Food Bank.”

Christi summed up her thoughts by sharing, “I feel very honored to be a part of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank. It's impressive how the food bank coordinates all these people to provide such essential services in our community. Every volunteer and donor literally make it possible: donating food or funds, picking up donations, sorting donations, helping with shopping, packing deliveries, pushing out carts, and many other things. Every program - food service days, Groceries to Go, Lunch for the Break, Power Packs, Summer Lunch – happens because people volunteer their time or donate food or funds. People might not always see how their part works to support the food bank. Still, everybody's efforts make it possible for the food bank to provide food to our wider community.”

And, when asked about her vision for the future, Christi shared, “My long-term vision for the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank is a larger space! A space with room for clients to shop for both food and clothing. A space where all the different programs have their own work areas for volunteers and storage space.” We’re with you Christi, and we believe that, together, our community can bring this dream to fruition!

Christi, thank you for standing side-by-side with us through every season, giving of your time, talent, resources, but especially your heart, for those we serve! We love having you in our food bank family!