By Cori Walters
Winter 2020
Many of you have seen either myself, other staff members, or volunteers of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank zipping around, trying not to be frantic, and expressing (with a smile, of course) that we are “so busy!”
Our food bank alone saw a 22% increase in services from 2018 to 2019 (Figure 1), meaning we’ve provided 3,520 more services in our food bank from one year to the next. We also saw a 41% increase – or 5,316 more touchpoints – in our special programs, including our youth feeding and grocery delivery programs. These are record-high numbers for our food bank and special programs! We believe this spike is attributed to our improved outreach efforts, an increase in need, and a greater divide in affordability in our community. The biggest jump in services has been for our senior demographic. Property taxes have increased but incomes of those living on a fixed budget have not increased, leaving families and individuals unable to make ends meet each month. Our food bank has protected those folks from having to make the difficult choice of paying their mortgage/rent or putting food on their table.
Figure 1
With these record-high numbers and no signs of slowing down, how are we able to keep up with the need in our community?
The scalability of our organization can only be attributed to our incredible donor base and engaged volunteer team, as made evident by the peaks in Food Pound Donations (Figure 2) and Volunteer Hours (Figure 3). In 2019, you helped bring in nearly 1.6 million pounds of food, which is a 25% increase in food donations from 2018. Creative and strategic food and toiletry drives from churches, schools, businesses, and service groups are one big factor that helps us get the right food in the building at the right time. Several groups have shifted their drives away from the busy holiday season and into the late spring/summer months when donations are lighter. Many of our partners have shifted to contributing funds instead of doing drives, so that we can stretch their dollars and purchase specific items that are important and high in-demand but aren’t readily donated. When we can stretch every $1 donation into $6 worth of food, we can buy items that address the specific needs or dietary-restrictions of our shoppers. Things like Ensure, baby formula, fresh produce and dairy, gluten-free, and low sodium items. We can also diversify our food selection to address cultural preferences.
Figure 2
Our volunteers gave almost 27,000 hours of their time in 2019; the equivalent of 13 full time employees. That being said, 13 full time employees could NEVER replace the passion, character, talents, and person-power of our volunteer team and all the diverse work they are able to do for the families we serve. Our volunteers sort all of the donations, set up the food and clothing banks for shopping, pack and deliver food to clients, pick-up food from grocery stores, coordinate special programs, govern our organization, and so, so much more. Our volunteer team brings light and joy to our organization. They connect with every client that walks in our building, take special care to create a gracious space, and instill a welcoming environment for everyone who walks through our doors.
Figure 3
The lines in these graphs all equate to more movement; more people coming into our building, and more people moving more food for more hours. As our service numbers grow, our food needs, volunteer needs, and financial needs also grow. The Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank is a conduit for giving back and helping others, and we are grateful for this generous community so that we can continue to meet the growing demand.