A Lifesaving Box Of Food

Hi Everyone, David Tate Here

I thought you might enjoy this.  I was out walking around my neighborhood some weeks back when I passed a young couple and their child.  The man stopped and gave me a curious look and said “I know you from somewhere.”  I did not recognize him and said that maybe he had seen me at FamilyWorks up by the library.  He face lit up, he pointed at me and said  “The foodbank!”   I said ”That makes sense, but I’m sorry I don’t recognize you.”

His wife said they remembered me as I was the one who got them signed up at the foodbank and introduced them to the Resource Center.  I asked them how they were doing and why we had not seen them recently and here is what they said.

A few months back he had lost his job and they were living out of their car with their three year old.  The wife told me that they were down to $20 in cash and desperately needed food, when someone told them about the FW foodbank.  They came down and we got them signed up and provided them with what she called “A lifesaving box of food.”  We also got them “hooked up” with the playgroup program and some housing resources.

They are now in housing and he has a full-time job working security at one of the local “big box” stores.  They both said that their experience with family works had been transforming and lifesaving and had played a huge part in helping them through what was a difficult and stressful time in their lives and they specifically asked me let everyone know how thankful they are for the help.

Looking to Help Others in Your Community this Summer?

Volunteer with FamilyWorks at the Wallingford Boys & Girls Club on Tuesdays and Thursdays from July 2nd to August 20th in our Reading Buddies program and re-visit those books you loved as a child. Our goal is to support and encourage the love of reading and to help children retain reading comprehension skills over the summer vacation. Be a one-on-one reading buddy for children aged 6-12 years and join with us from 4:00-5:00 p.m. to read, listen, and play fun games. Volunteers must be 16 or older.

For more information contact Sarah at saraht@familyworksseattle.org or call 206-694-6849.

Franklin HS Woodshop Keeps Food Bank on the Move

 By Virginia Eader, MSW Intern

Students brainstorming with Woodshop teacher, Mike Lawson, on how to complete the carts for the food bank. “It brought a lot of us together,” described Senior Michael Raglin-Johnsen. “We had to communicate and work as a team.”

 In 2010 Family Works collected over 522 tons of food through the generous support of the local Wallingford and Seattle community. FamilyWork’s dedicated staff and volunteers work hard to ensure that all of the food is carefully sorted, organized, refrigerated, and made ready to distribute to eager customers throughout each week.

As with most food banks, storage capacity and mobility of food can be quite challenging. When Sanjay Rao, food bank volunteer and FamilyWorks board member, first began working in the food bank he witnessed the heavy moving and shifting of the 300-400 pound stacked crates of food. “There’s got to be a better way,” he thought.

 Staff and volunteers began brainstorming ways to improve the mobility of food. After researching costly solutions and testing out three hand-made prototypes, it was decided that a simply designed wood frame with swivel wheels could be a hopeful solution. To help with building the carts, the project became a great community service opportunity for a group willing to help out. Thirteen students from Franklin High School’s Woodshop class, one of the few Woodshop programs left in Seattle, stepped up to the challenge.

 Mike Lawson, who has been teaching Woodshop at Franklin for the past 16 years, was excited to get his students involved with the project. “It’s a big world out there and I want students to see that they can have a part in it,” Lawson said. This is the third community service project the class has done this semester.

Franklin Woodshop student proudly holds two completed carts. "It's not everyday that students have the opportunity to go from a concept to a finished product," said Teacher, Mike Lawson.

 Food bank volunteers pooled together to get the necessary supplies for students to make the carts. Just over a week after the materials were delivered, students had all 25 carts complete.

 Reflecting on the project, Junior Angela Ma says, “It was very fun. Like an assembly line, everyone put in effort to help make each cart.”

 The building of the carts required that the students use a combination of skills including math, reading, following detailed directions, precision cutting and drilling, as well as a great deal of collaborative problem solving and communication.

 Lawson described the learning process, “It was pretty cool watching [the students]. You could really see their gears turning. In this class every kid has a chance to be a rock star. They don’t necessarily have that chance in other parts of their life.”

 Many students expressed excitement about helping the food bank through their class work.

 “It’s nice to be able to put something to use. We can go out in the community and say ‘oh wow’ I made this’,” Senior Maddy Williams said.     Junior Jonathan Chac agreed, “It felt good because it’s not just for a grade. I’m actually helping people.”

FamilyWorks volunteers Sanjay Rao and David Tate testing the new carts in the food bank. "Honestly, I feel really good about this project," Sanjay explained. "All it takes is to bring people together and they'll help each other out."

 The students are hoping to be able take a field trip to FamilyWorks to see their hard work in action. Some students even expressed the desire to volunteer after school. In the mean time, the carts will help keep thousands of pounds of nutritious food moving more efficiently throughout the food bank each week. The benefits of this collaborative project will help to better serve the individuals and families who need it most.

A Million Meals for Haiti

Want to help Haiti with a family-friendly (kids ages 10+) volunteer experience? Join The Salvation Army as they pack a million meals to send to a tent city in Haiti.

Here is some more info from the website:

WHAT: A fun event packing a million meals that will feed displaced individuals living in a tent city operated by The Salvation Army in Port-au-Prince, Haiti. Since the Jan. 12 disaster, The Salvation Army has already packed, shipped and distributed 10 million meals to the country.

Currently, The Salvation Army is distributing approximately one million meals per week in Haiti. To meet the constant demand for food, “Million Meals for Haiti” events are being organized around the United States in partnership with Salvation Army World Service Office (SAWSO) and Numana– a non-profit organization (www.numanainc.com) that produces dried, non-perishable meals to be distributed to areas of hunger worldwide. To date, The Salvation Army “Million Meals for Haiti” events have occurred in Los Angeles, Chicago, Kansas City, San Francisco and other cities.

WHO: At least 2000 volunteers are needed to make Seattle’s event successful. It takes a team of 12 to assemble and package the food so come alone or bring others to form your own team….Tell your family, friends, colleagues, community clubs, church, etc! Volunteers need to be at least 10-years-old.

WHERE: Washington State Convention Center, 800 Convention Pl., Seattle, WA 98101

WHEN: Sat. May 29, 12 – 8 PM Sun. May 30, 10 AM – 8 PM

HOW: For more information including volunteer registration, please visit www.salvationarmynw.org/haiti

We’d love to hear if you get a group together!

Apron Creation A Sensation!

Last week strangers and friends got together to cut, sew, and assemble aprons for the volunteers at the FamilyWorks Food Bank. People came armed with scissors, pins, and sewing machines and got right to work! We are incredibly grateful to Sew-Up Seattle for donating five beautiful sewing machines and one experienced teacher for our newbie sewers. Thanks to everyone who attended! It was a smashing success! In total, we completed 14 aprons in under 3 hours.

We ordered patches from Schnitzel and Boo so that each apron would have our logo…

Want to get involved? Call Danielle at (206) 576-6534. We have extra fabric if you’d like to create an apron at home to donate to the food bank.

Harlem Children’s Zone’s Geoffrey Canada Visits Seattle to Inspire

Geoffrey Canada, founder of Harlem Children’s Zone (HCZ) in New York City, is taking the nation by storm. His simple and straightforward message is that he will do “whatever it takes” to serve his community’s children and families. On February 9^th, 2010, Mr. Canada came to the University of Washington to instill hope and motivate others to replicate his efforts. It is not hard to see success in similar programs in Seattle—FamilyWorks, for example, offers community programs that nurture, empower, and strengthen individuals and families from birth to adulthood.

Support at HCZ starts at birth, with parenting classes offered for expectant parents and those with children up to three years of age. It continues into preschool, where students are adequately prepared to enter kindergarten by participating in a program that teaches English, Spanish and French.

HCZ runs two charter schools for elementary school students: Promise Academy I and II. “Since their creation in 2004 and 2005, Promise Academy I and II elementary schools have done well enough to lead Harvard economist Roland Fryer to conclude that the students had actually closed the black-white achievement gap. The schools have a longer school day and year, and feature wide-ranging, enriching after-school programs. In 2009, the third-graders from both schools were 100 percent on or above grade level in the state-wide math program. At PA1 the third-graders were 94 percent on or above grade level in English Language Arts, while the third-graders at PAII were at 86 percent.” Students who do not attend these charter schools can still take part in Peacemakers, a program run by HCZ that “trains young people who are committed to making their neighborhoods safe for children and families.”

Of course, it doesn’t stop there: HCZ offers programs for middle and high school students that educate, coach, and nurture. This project pushes students to achieve by giving them the skills they need to succeed. They offer job training and community involvement, college prep and arts coaching. “197 students were accepted into college for the 2009-2010 year, representing 90% of HCZ high-school seniors.”

If you want to be truly inspired, check out the HCZ website for more information on what an impact this project has on families and children of NYC. Then, get involved! Be a part of this great movement—one that believes in the future and is committed to providing the best for children in its community here and now.

Family Focus Group

Attention, families in the Wallingford, Fremont, and University Districts! On November 4, 5:30-7, there will be a Family Focus group for adults. Group participants will receive refreshments, a Safeway gift card, a children’s book, and a chance to have a voice in your community. Participants will be asked questions like these:

• What are the needs that every family has?
• What resources or support would help families to meet those needs?
• What would help to make support networks and resources responsive to your family?

If you would like to participate in this focus group, please RSVP to Danielle at 206-576-6534, or click here to RSVP on Facebook. Childcare is available on a limited basis.

Edible School Gardens

Speaking of Edible Gardens, here’s an article about what Australia’s Sunshine Coast is doing to teach children food security.

Edible School Gardens.

Seattle’s Bag Fee and the Poor

Thanks to CAMP for highlighting the affects on the poor of the proposed Seattle 20-cent bag fee.  Our clients will be affected the same way.

http://seattletimes.nwsource.com/html/dannywestneat/2009555408_danny29.html

U.S. Kids’ Well-Being Lags

Last week’s article showcases key points that suggest that while some trends are improving, other measures of kids’ well-being are worsening as compared to the 2000 census, e.g. teen births, which are dramatically increasing. Interestingly, one of t he key measurements the article points to as showing a decline in well-being is an increase in the number of children living in single-parent households. This seems more judgemental as a measurement tool than, say, low-birth-weight, which has specific medical conditions associated with it. We at FamilyWorks value single parents and have seen many a wonderful family headed by one parent instead of two. What do you think of the government’s use of the controversial statistic in this way? What do you think about the other statistics the study uses to measure child well-being, and the assumptions behind them?

Full Article (click below):

U.S. Kids’ Well-Being Lags in Key Areas – CBS News.