By Stephanie Norton-Bredl, Executive 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.
As we’ve shared throughout the previous year, the need continues to grow in our community with enrollment in programs steadily growing and, although inflation is starting to slow down, the cost of living in the Pacific NW remains quite high. This continues to be a very challenging environment for many of our neighbors, but you, our supporters, have truly risen to the occasion. From individual donations, to grants from small community organizations, to donations of time, talents, gift cards, and priority need items, we are truly grateful for your support throughout 2023.
We hope you will continue to join us in tackling the challenges of 2024. Being responsive to the needs of our East King County neighbors requires meeting some big goals. As our services and outreach expand, so does our need for deeper community engagement.
Here are some of the things we are committed to doing in 2024:
Growing our case management outreach by developing new partnerships that expand the services and accessibility of services to our community.
Continuing our commitment to providing a variety of fresh and culturally familiar foods in our market and home delivery program and maintaining a strong emphasis on shopper’s choice.
Developing more opportunities for youth and other groups (community, church, corporate) to partner with us.
This, of course, is not an exhaustive list as there is so much to accomplish in the coming year! If you would like to learn more about our big goals and how, together, we’re responding to the current level of need for resources, we welcome your questions and invite you to reach out to us, to take a tour, or invite us to speak to a group that you are involved with. If you are interested in volunteering, we have many opportunities—from assisting in our market or volunteering as a delivery driver to helping with events or working at one of our many food drives. We are so appreciative of all of you: our partners, our volunteers, our supporters. This is the work of the entire community, and we are proud to be part of yours!