Food Lifeline

Join for the Second Annual Dance to End Hunger! 🕺🪩

📅 Saturday, August 17th
⌚ 9:00-11:00 am OR 1:00-3:00pm
📍 Hunger Solution Center in Seattle’s South Park neighborhood

Special Volunteer Opportunity: Volunteer with us from either 9-11am or 1-3pm, and to help fuel the energy C89.5 will bring their DJs to spin throughout! Come dance, volunteer, and learn more about how you can help bridge the summer meals gap for thousands of children this summer.

*Volunteers 10 and up welcome.

Sign up to volunteer at: https://foodlifeline.org/dance-to-end-hunger/

Our final 2024 Food Frenzy results are officially in! 🎉

💵 $535,612 raised
📋 61 participating organizations
🕝 2,330 volunteer hours contributed
🥫 33,710 food items collected

Thank you to each and every team for your hard work and dedication to making Food Frenzy what it is—you never cease to amaze us with your creativity and commitment. You’ve made an incredible difference in the lives of families and children experiencing hunger in Western Washington.

See the complete list of 2024 Food Frenzy Results and Award Winners:

👉 https://foodlifeline.org/2024-food-frenzy-results/

Join us this Saturday right here in South Park for the Duwamish River Festival! We'll be tabling - stop by and say hi :)

☀️ More than 50 informational booths tables
🎸 Amazing local cultural performances
🏞️ Status updates about the river and community
🚌 Shuttles from Georgetown and South Park
🍜 FREE food!
🎟️ Lots of raffle prices and gifts
🛶 FREE Kayak and boat tours

Thank you to everyone who participated in over the past two weeks!

We had a great time competing alongside 65 businesses in Western Washington to raise money to help bridge the summer meals gap for families.

🎉 We raised over $3,073 from over 80 unique donors.

📝 We wrote over 100 thank you cards to our donors.

🏆 We had a very dramatic Cutest Pet Contest. Congrats to COCO who clenched the Cutest Pet Title! 🦜

🌊 Our first was a wild success!

Thanks to everyone for your participation and support 🧡

Big thanks to Sound Credit Union and 96.5 JACK FM for another successful “Playing What You Want” campaign.📻🎵🎶

This year, they combined to raise more than $52,000 for Food Lifeline and our End Summer Hunger efforts!

Shameless cute pet post 🐕🐾🐈🦜🐹

Our staff cutest pet contest is heating up! As part of our internal Food Frenzy fundraising competition, 28 adorable pets are helping us raise money for families experiencing summer hunger! You can help too by voting for your favorite pet.

Go to the Contest page, scroll through all the cute pets, make a donation, and in the comment section, put the name of the pet you are voting for. $1 = 1 vote

Link to see ALL the pets, donate and vote here: https://www.mightycause.com/story/Fllcutestpet24

All donations go to bridge the summer meals gap, ensuring all kids have the food they need to grow and thrive this summer.🧡

Free meals for kids and teens are available in your neighborhood this summer!☀️

Free Summer Meals programs are open to ALL families and don’t ask for any paperwork—kids can just drop in and grab a meal. Many sites also offer fun activities that help kids stay active and engaged when school is out.

To find locations visit: https://www.hungerfreewa.org/help/summermeals

Because the program is open to all children 18 and under, any family can participate and get to know their neighbors and community.

Stop by any branch to purchase a flower - sales benefit Food Lifeline or donate online https://www.mightycause.com/team/Soundcb-2024 Fact: 30% of the individuals Food Lifeline serves are children. Our team had a blast volunteering at Food Lifeline!

We are still looking for more volunteers to help at the Bite of Seattle this weekend! 😎

Volunteers ages 19+ are needed to help at The Alley where food vendors are donating a portion of their food sales to benefit Food Lifeline. Great people, great cause, and of course, great food! 🥗🌮🍱

Volunteer Shifts:
July 19-21, 2024
9:30 AM – 2:30 PM, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
2:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

• Volunteer Duties: Welcome guests, sell tickets and pass out food items. Your specific assignment will be made on site at the beginning of your shift.

• Requirements: Ability to stand for long periods, work outdoors (sun or rain). Ability to arrive on time for training, and commit to your entire shift. (Please plan for added traffic and parking time.)

Sign Up for a volunteer shift here: https://foodlifeline.volunteerhub.com/vv2/lp/biteofseattle.

Special Volunteer Opportunity! ☀️

Join us at The Bite of Seattle at the Seattle Center, July 19-21 for the summer food festival that gives back. Volunteers ages 19+ are needed to help at The Alley where food vendors are donating a portion of their food sales to benefit Food Lifeline. Great people, great cause, and of course, great food! 🥗🌮🍱

Volunteer Shifts:
July 19-21, 2024
9:30 AM – 2:30 PM, Friday, Saturday, Sunday
2:00 PM – 7:00 PM, Friday, Saturday, Sunday

• Volunteer Duties: Greeting and directing guests, Checking-in guests and selling tickets, assisting restaurant booths if needed. Your specific assignment will be made on site at the beginning of your shift.

• Requirements: Ability to stand for long periods, work outdoors (sun or rain). Ability to arrive on time for training, and commit to your entire shift. (Please plan for added traffic and parking time.)

Sign Up! https://foodlifeline.volunteerhub.com/vv2/lp/biteofseattle

Excited to be part of this week's PNW Climate Week!

Aaron Czyzewski, our Director of Advocacy & Public Policy, will be a panelist for the "Driving Change in Food Sustainability" discussion tomorrow.

About 1/3 of human-caused carbon emissions are linked to food.

​Gage Mitchel (from Modern Species) and Jaxie Friedman (from Atomo Coffee) will moderate this discussion with other local PNW organizations working to create a more circular & sustainable food system. They will dig into key challenges, solutions and levers for change within our food system.

Wednesday, July 10
3:00 PM - 5:00 PM
Georgetown Steam Plant
Seattle, Washington

🌎 Registration at https://lu.ma/gppga6xg.

EXCITING NEWS! There is a new permanent, nationwide Summer EBT program—also known as SUN Bucks—to help families ensure their school-aged children have access to nutritious meals when they are not in school. ☀️

SUN Bucks is separate from Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and provides $120 in food benefits to each eligible child.

🍎 Learn more about this new program and check eligibility here: dshs.wa.gov/sunbucks

The USDA estimates that in Washington state, this program will benefit 507,000 children.

Senator Patty Murray played a crucial role in making this program permanent as the longtime sponsor of the Stop Child Summer Hunger Act.

This new program was also made possible by the efforts of school districts, hunger relief and community organizations, and community members like you, who see the need to ensure children receive nutritious food, even when the school bell rings for the last time.

We continue to advocate for policy proposals and community-led solutions to solve summer hunger. 🌱

You can help bridge the summer meals gap via Instacart's Community Carts! 🛒

This tool lets you donate the exact food items your local food bank needs with delivery and service fees waived on every donation. An Instacart shopper will deliver the items directly to the food bank.

You can donate directly to Food Lifeline’s Community Cart here:

Food Lifeline Donate items to help families get the food they need, and they’ll be delivered directly to this food bank.

Today’s the day! 📻🎶

Donate on our site and enter a song request, and 96.5 JACK FM will play your song on the radio today!

https://foodlifeline.org/jackfm

ADDED BONUS: Sound Credit Union will match every donation up to $25,000 dollars!

Your donations help bridge the summer meals gap so all kids can learn, grow, and thrive this summer ☀️

It’s on! The donations are excellent! The song choices are excellent! Keep it coming my friends - you are helping so many Western Washington kids. Lee Callahan is here til 6pm. (link in bio) Food Lifeline rocks! Sound Credit Union - matching up to 25K!

Save the Date! 📅

Our annual celebration and fundraiser Dress Down Hunger is October 19th! We are excited to welcome you to our warehouse for a night of food, games, and fun! 🎉

Subscribers to our email list will get a special discount code for tickets so make sure to sign up today to get access to our early bird pricing! https://foodlifeline.us3.list-manage.com/subscribe?u=93b13fd642599835a4d26fb49&id=fc464be1ca

In observance of Juneteenth, we will be closed today. Juneteenth commemorates the emancipation of enslaved people in the United States and celebrates freedom. We honor Juneteenth by learning about and celebrating the invaluable contributions of Black communities across the country.

Juneteenth also serves as a reminder we must continue to take action against all forms of systemic racism and oppression that challenge true equity and justice. This Juneteenth and beyond, let’s continue to work for racial equity and liberation.

📷 Juneteenth Flag

For a listing of the many events taking place to celebrate Juneteenth go to https://southseattleemerald.com/2024/06/14/juneteenth-2024-in-the-south-end/?amp

Heading into a sunny weekend on some good news - The Universal Free School Meals movement is growing! As one of our advocacy priorities, we worked with other hunger advocates to expand access to free school meals in Washington this legislative session, and will continue to push for universal free school meals. ☀️

🍎 Read the NYT article here: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/05/21/headway/how-free-school-meals-went-mainstream.html?smid=url-share

“In total, more than 21 million American children now attend schools that offer free meals to all — a tenfold increase from 2010. “Schools did not want to go back to charging some kids,” said Crystal FitzSimons, the director of child nutrition programs and policy at the nonprofit Food Research and Action Center. “They saw the huge benefits of providing free meals to all students: supporting families, supporting kids, changing the culture of the cafeteria.”

🏛️ Interested in this work? Join our advocacy list to help win policy proposals - like universal free school meals - that alleviate poverty and hunger: https://foodlifeline.salsalabs.org/actiontakercopy1/index.html

How Free School Meals Went Mainstream Over the past decade, many more schools started to offer free meals to all children, regardless of family income.

We're teaming up with 96.5 JACK FM and Sound Credit Union to Root Out Hunger this month!☀️

🎵 When you donate on our site to "Playing What You Want So Kids Can Eat What They Need" and enter a song request at checkout, JackFM will play your song on the radio! ADDED BONUS: Sound Credit Union will match every donation up to $25,000 dollars: https://foodlifeline.org/jackfm

🥫 Drop off canned goods or make a donation at any Sound Branch locations through the end of June: https://www.soundcu.com/blog/root-out-hunger-in-western-washington-2/

Your donations will help bridge the summer meals gap so all kids can learn, grow, and thrive this summer!

Happy Pride Eve! 🌈 As we join our local LGBTQIA2S+ community in celebrating Pride this June, Food Lifeline recognizes that steps must still be taken to move towards equality. In May 2023, 19% of LGBTQIA+ adults reported not having enough to eat, compared to 10% among non-LGBTQIA+ adults. Much work remains to be done to end hunger for everyone and we are committed to working alongside the LGBTQIA+ community to ensure everyone has the food and resources they need to thrive.

Starting this weekend, many events are taking place across Washington, including those listed below.

Visit the link in stories or go to https://lgbtq.wa.gov/events for more details. Happy Pride! 🏳️‍🌈

Friday, May 31st
• Snohomish Pride Family Picnic

Saturday, June 1st
• Taking Pride in Capitol Hill
• Paws and Pride Dog Walk - Eastside Pride
• Pullman Pride 2024
• Snohomish Pride
• White Center Pride Street Festival
• Whatcom Youth Pride
• Kittitas County Pride
• Seattle Pride in the Park 2024
• Stanwood-Camano Pride
• 4th Annual Walla Walla PRIDE Festival

Sunday, June 2nd
• Run & Walk with Pride
• Arlington Pride Event
• Clark County Rainbow Walk
• Tri-Cities Pride

Filming our new mission video 🎥

Sending out a huge thank you to UW's Chi Psi Fraternity for bringing in 2,601 pounds of food and over $1,000 in cash donations this year through their annual Stuff the Bus Fundraiser! 🚌 🥫🙌

SO much food, and, their ongoing support ensures all our neighbors have the food they need to thrive!

Join Bartell Drugs now through June 29 for their “Stock the Shelves” community food drive benefitting Food Lifeline and its food bank partners! 🥫🛒

During the food drive, you can donate non-perishable foods at any of Bartell’s Puget Sound locations, or you can donate cash at the register. All donations will help Food Lifeline stock the shelves of more than 300 food banks, shelters, and meal programs across Western Washington.

Last year, the Bartell’s team raised $60,000 which, combined with in-store donations, helped to purchase 16 pallets of food and supplies.

For more info, visit our blog: https://foodlifeline.org/bartells-will-stock-the-shelves-to-help-end-hunger/

Happy Saturday! We’re at the U District Farmers Market today, spreading the word about our work to end hunger! 🍎🍒🍓

We’re here 9-2 - If you’re in the neighborhood, stop by and say hi 👋

“As of October, Seattle metro area households spent a mean $289 per week on food prepared at home, which was above the $270 national mean, according to the U.S. Census Bureau pulse survey. Seattle residents had the sixth-highest weekly food spend among 15 surveyed major metros.

In 2022, prices in the Seattle area for food prepared at home rose more than 12% from the previous year, and increased at a higher rate than the normal 2% range in 2020 (3.6%), 2021 (4.6%) and last year (3.1%), according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics Consumer Price Index.”

Seattle-area high food prices hit budgets already ‘slammed from all directions’ Food costs are among the highest in the country, straining family budgets and pushing many to seek assistance.

House Committee on Agriculture Chair Glenn “GT” Thompson (PA-15) released the draft House farm bill to be marked up by the committee next week on May 23. While the bill does propose several improvements to nutrition programs, those are vastly outweighed by provisions that would prevent future benefits of the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from reflecting the costs associated with updated nutrition guidance. These changes to future SNAP benefit adjustments would cut nearly $30 billion in food assistance benefits and impact all future SNAP recipients, including children, older adults, and people with disabilities. Additionally, the bill does not include the network’s most urgent farm bill ask to include a significant increase in funding for TEFAP entitlement food purchases. An increase in TEFAP funding is key to ensure neighbors have reliable access to emergency food assistance.

TAKE ACTION: We are asking network members to make clear that a farm bill must provide investments in TEFAP to help move food from U.S. producers and farmers through food banks to families facing hunger. Additionally, it is vital that the farm bill strengthen federal nutrition programs, and that the network make clear our adamant opposition to any harmful cuts and policy changes to SNAP, particularly SNAP’s Thrifty Food Plan future benefits, or any of the other federal nutrition programs.

👉Please use our press statement template to get on the record on the House Farm Bill: https://foodlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Network-Template-Statement_Reaction-to-House-Farm-Bill-FINAL.docx

Please share your press statement with your Representatives, as you deem appropriate. Network members with key Representatives will receive additional materials for targeted outreach.
https://foodlifeline.org/wp-content/uploads/2024/05/Food-Lifeline-Reaction-to-House-Farm-Bill.pdf

UnitedHealthcare is joining Food Lifeline in making a commitment to Western Washington communities experiencing hunger. A generous grant from the healthcare company is now empowering Food Lifeline to better address food insecurity among Western Washington’s most vulnerable populations.

The $300,000 grant is funding a two-pronged approach to addressing the root causes of hunger that create food insecurity among our most underserved communities. The first prong of this program is the sourcing and distribution of culturally relevant foods to those most in need. These are nutritious foods that meet the diverse tastes and needs of customers based on their cultural identity.

The second prong of this program is providing funding for Food Access Specialists who work directly with individuals and community groups that represent underserved communities across King, Skagit, and Whatcom Counties.

See a complete video of the program: https://lnkd.in/gsiH5_dz

Read more on our blog:
https://lnkd.in/gK23fzRS

We're a little late getting this out, but wanted to share what our amazing Food Access Specialists, Eva and Prenz, have been up to the last few months!

Check out the community events and advocacy actions they're been participating in this winter and spring.

Food Access Specialists are community-based staff that are located in counties identified as priority focus communities for Food Lifeline to improve access to food, funding for community-led projects, and long-term food security solutions.

Food Access Specialists are one of the ways we implement community-led hunger solutions.