More from the mobile food bank

Our partners at Grace Place Church, which is hosting the mobile food bank on Fridays from 12-2 pm, posted some video from the dedication on Oct. 14.

Grace Place is located at 3801 S. Union in Tacoma.

Take a look at our new mobile food bank

Our new mobile food bank made a very successful debut last week with stops at Grace Place Church, where Pastor Danny Thomas offered a blessing and dedication of the new mobile unit, and at Northeast Tacoma Elementary School.

The mobile unit, a converted 45-ft furniture van, is Pierce County's first completely self-contained mobile food bank and one of only a few in the country. Take a look:

Clients enter the mobile unit on the side and push their shopping cart right down the center aisle.

Ramps at the side and back make for easy entry and exit.

FISH's Debbie Price and Mike Mowat review shelf stock for the mobile food bank's first stop. 

FISH hits the road!

Beginning in mid-October, FISH will launch its first mobile food bank. This is a pilot project in attempting to reach underserved parts of Pierce County where there is high need but no food bank access. 

Under the leadership of FISH board member Mike Mowat, a 48-ft former furniture van is being outfitted with a generator, lights, propane heaters, shelves and entry/exit ramps. It will have more storage and display capacity than some fixed food banks, but will be able to move to where the need is.

Like our fixed-location food banks, the mobile food bank will operate on a walk-in, self-serve model. Inside the trailer, individuals will check in and receive a small shopping cart. They will then walk down a center aisle and select food from the shelving units on either side, just as in our fixed locations.

Northeast Tacoma Elementary School will be the first regular weekly stop on the mobile schedule.

The school’s principal approached FISH some time ago about starting a food bank in the neighborhood. Northeast Tacoma is one of Pierce County’s underserved areas, where there is high need but no access to a food bank. The closest food bank is just across the county line in Federal Way, but its funding restrictions mean that it serves only King County residents. Pierce County residents aren’t eligible to receive federal commodity food there, and the nearest Pierce County food bank is eight miles away. 

We are currently talking with potential partners to find other sites for the mobile food bank schedule. If you'd like to suggest an area of need or a prospective site for the mobile food bank, just let us know via phone at 253-383-3164 or email us.

Sun shines on the Proctor Art-a-Thon

Artist Andrea Greenfield with some of her creations

Many thanks to the Proctor Art Gallery and the Proctor Farmers' Market, who teamed up again to present the 3rd Annual Proctor Art-a-Thon at the Market on Saturday, July 23, all to benefit NW Tacoma FISH, located at Mason United Methodist Church, adjacent to the Market.
Special thanks to each of the artists who took part, donating their time all day, doing art demonstrations and creating works inspired by the Farmers' Market while they accepted donations and pledges for NW Tacoma FISH. The proceeds allow the food bank to purchase fresh produce from the Market.
From Proctor Art Gallery came Andrea Greenfield, Arvid Anderson, Bonnie Cargol, Emily Porter, Marquita Hunt, Sharon Crocetti, Tom Bona, Carolyn Burt and Gary LaTurner, along with friends Alexis St. John and Mary Wolfe. The event drew big crowds, drawn by the perfect weather.
Thanks also to Louise Andersen and Felicity Devlin from the Proctor Farmers’ Market for all of their sponsorship and hard work promoting the event.  
There were many highlights: Artists Mary and Bill Wolfe donated the wonderful Victorian style rocking horse which brought in over $100  by itself. And artist Mauricio Rubilino spent the day in the Kids’ Booth, creating two gorgeous mosaics with the children's participation. The mosaics will be displayed at the Proctor Arts Fest on Aug. 6. People will be invited to donate for a chance to win them.

Artists Bill & Mary Wolfe donated this wonderful Victorian rocking horse,
inviting donations for a chance to win the horse.

Celebrating the expansion of Southeast FISH

Pastor Peter reads the story of the loaves and fishes at the celebration

"We destroyed a perfectly good house . . . what were we thinking?" asked Pastor Peter Mohr of the volunteers, board and staff gathered at Southeast FISH yesterday.

The occasion was a celebration to mark the completion of a 1,000 sq. ft. addition to the food bank, providing badly needed food storage. In blessing the new space, Pastor Peter told the story of the house that now houses the food bank on his congregation's property. He spoke of all the other ways the space could have been used, and concluded, "Now it's only good for one thing . . . but that one thing is close to the heart of God."

New expansion at Southeast

It was only three years ago that we added 2,500 square feet of space to Southeast FISH. At that time this food bank was serving about 8,000 people each month. We couldn’t have foreseen then that the economy would take such a severe downturn and that we would outgrow that added space so quickly.

FISH director Beth Elliott with Jeff May (l)
and Jeff Stroud of Mountain Construction

Today Southeast FISH serves about 15,000 people each month. With such a dramatic increase in need, we had to find a way to maximize our available space, and so here we are celebrating the addition of another 1,000 square feet for food storage.

FISH executive director Beth Elliott and board president Dee Ebsen thanked the Thompson Foundation, which funded the expansion with a generous grant of $62,643, and Mountain Construction, which donated the framing labor, valued at $13,550. 

Volunteer coordinator Phil Membrere thanked the gathered volunteers, many of whom have been working at Southeast FISH for many years. Before this addition was started, volunteers were forced to move pallets of food outside every day just to make room in the food bank for serving clients and restocking shelves. At the end of the day they would move the pallets back inside. In inclement weather the pallets were covered with plastic tarps for protection. It was  inefficient and hazardous. Phil thanked the volunteers for their amazing dedication and patience throughout the construction process.

Book signing benefits FISH

It was an afternoon of history and fun on Saturday as Dr. Jennifer Ross-Nazzal, historian and author, presented her newly released book, Winning the West for Women: The Life of Suffragist Emma Smith DeVoe. The book signing and celebration was held at the DeVoe Mansion Bed and Breakfast in Tacoma, once the home of Emma Smith DeVoe. Attendees brought canned food donation as the cost of admission and all proceeds benefited FISH Food Banks. We'd like to thank Dr. Ross-Nazzal for her generosity in sharing the celebration of her new book with people in need here in our county.

Executive director Beth Elliott with FISH board members Sandy Roszman and Dee Dippolito at DeVoe Mansion

FISH Food Benefit was a rousing success!

The Swiss Pub in Tacoma rocked out on Sunday evening with the sounds of the 4th Annual FISH Food Benefit Concert, presented by Maurice the Fish Records and SweatBox Entertainment. Through donations, raffles and a silent auction, the evening raised more than $4,000 for FISH Food Banks of Pierce County -- enough to provide over $28,000 worth of food to people in need!

"King Fish" Raymond Hayden talks about the record label's commitment to helping hungry people:

Participating artists included Heidi Vladyka, Josh Rizeberg, Sevens Revenge, the Rikk Beatty Band, the Kim Archer Band, and Mr. Von. Many, many thanks to all of the artists, volunteers, sponsors, donors and attendees who made this event possible!

Heidi Vladyka opened the show

Spoken word artist Josh Rizeberg

Kristin and Dusti of Sevens Revenge

Kim Archer

Mr. Von of SweatBox Entertainment

The state budget affects you - learn how to make your voice heard!

We're excited to be working with our friends at Washington Community Action Network (Washington CAN) to offer a series of community conversations on state budget cuts and how they can affect you. What happens in Olympia matters to you; please join us to learn how you can make your voice heard in Olympia. Our first community conversation will be held next Wednesday, June 22 from 1:00-2:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the King, 1704 East 85th (next to Southeast FISH). Map

Download a flyer here.

We're growing again at Southeast!

Just three years after completing a large expansion, our Southeast FISH Food Bank is expanding again. When we completed the 2,500 sq. ft. expansion in 2008, Southeast was serving approximately 8,000 people each month. In these days of a bad economy and high unemployment, Southeast is now serving more than 14,000 people each month and has outgrown its space.

Up to now volunteers have had to move 20 to 40 pallets of food outside the food bank every day to make room for serving clients and restocking shelves. At the end of the day they move the pallets back inside. During bad weather the pallets have been covered with plastic tarps for protection, often a challenge on windy and rainy days. 

Construction began May 2 on another expansion that will add 1,000 sq. ft. to the food bank. The added space will house 40 pallets of food that currently sit outside during the day and provide space for 20 additional pallets. It will make remove a safety hazard for our volunteers and staff and at the same time allow us to serve clients more efficiently.

Added space will allow pallets to be stored inside.

We are so grateful to our friends at Mountain Construction, who are donating a significant portion of the labor to make this project happen.They've made great progress over the past month, and expect to be finished by mid- to late June.

Looking good and making great progress!

This is why we're here

Every day, we hear all kinds of stories from our clients. But sometimes we get a truly stark reminder of why it is we do what we do. Yesterday there was one such reminder in a phone call to our admin office. The caller, Richard, was a 58-year-old man in need of food for himself and his wife.

He wanted us to know that he had been turned away from another food bank organization. Without a car or access to a bus, he had walked several miles in the rain to get there, only to be refused food because he didn’t have the identification they required.  As he told us the story, he didn’t even sound angry, just sad and defeated. "I know they have their rules," he said, "but it just seemed wrong." He said he just wanted to tell us what had happened so that we wouldn’t refer anyone there. “I’m strong and I can keep trying,” he said, “but what if the same thing happened to some poor little old lady who had no other way to get food?”

As he talked, Richard shared more and more of his story, and it was heartbreaking. He and his wife recently moved to our area. His wife is ill, clinically depressed and in need of medical care. He has a job lined up to start next month, but until he starts work he has no money to pay for food or for the medicine his wife badly needs.

At FISH, we believe no one in need of food should ever be turned away. We knew we had to find a way to help. It was late in the day, it was raining heavily, and there was no food bank he could get to. But thanks to the dedicated staff at our Southeast food bank, and their willingness to go the extra mile to help someone in need, we were able to deliver some food to Richard and his wife.
We all have days when we're busy or overwhelmed. But when we do, it's stories like Richard's that remind us why it is we're here.

Thanks to Westgate Curves!

Many, many thanks to the wonderful, generous patrons of the Curves in Tacoma's Westgate area, whose annual food drive netted over 5,000 pounds of food for our NW Tacoma FISH Food Bank.

Here's the collected food at Westgate Curves after only two weeks of the month-long food drive!

The women challenged their colleagues at other local Curves to spur on the collection of needed food and non-food items.

Bargain hunters, unite!

It was a full house yesterday at the United Methodist Church at Lakewood as FISH presented another "Coupons 101" class with blogger Angela Russell. About 50 people listened avidly and asked lots of questions as Angela shared her tips for smart coupon shopping. See Angela's blog, The Coupon Project, for lots of good ideas for smart, ethical bargain shopping.

FISH partners with Tacoma Community College

As part of our commitment to continuous improvement, FISH Food Banks of Pierce County is delighted to be partnering with Tacoma Community College to present a specially designed course in safety and warehouse management for food bank operations. Titled "Safety Excellence in the FISH Food Network," the six-hour class will give FISH Food Bank coordinators and other food warehouse operators an opportunity to look at the most common issues and pitfalls that can create safety hazards.

TCC business instructor Gary Olson has designed the class with input from FISH staff and safety office Marcus Stoll. Topics to be covered include safety training, materials handling, shelving/racking, proper lifting, housekeeping, truck safety, pedestrian safety, use of protective equipment and much more.

We're excited to be working with TCC on this project and hope it's the first of many!

And now for something a little different . . .

Nancy Zarins, who works part-time in our administrative office, is also a local poet.  She shared one of her recent poems with us and we thought it would be great to share it with our friends and supporters.

What Do You See?

You probably never see
The tramp who has to be
Plunging his hands
Through the garbage in cans
To find a half good orange
Maybe

And you've probably never known
Those whose own body
Devours them inward
From the bone

Have you ever seen someone find
An open bottle of wine
And just as his heart
Jumped for his win
And his shaking hands
Lifted the bottle
Towards his shaking mind
His nostrils caught
And cleared and lost,
Shattered.

A green glass wine bottle
Filled with urine.

Some evil slime
Which could have come
From one
Who bought and drank that wine
But most likely was done
From one whose need
Was cruelty.

People talk about "the homeless"
I've heard people say
"Why don't they get it together?
Why do they act that way?"

and, "They could do better of course
They don't have to live that way!
Just lazy and want us to support them
They've already got shelters and welfare
That's more than enough for us to pay."

I saw a man once on a documentary
About our homeless folk today.
He said, "Don't ever think it can't happen to you.
It can happen to anyone. It happened to me.

It could happen tomorrow.
Could happen today.”

And I’ve heard it said
I bet you have, too.
“Whatsoever ye do unto the least of my
brethren,
Ye do unto me.” Yes you do.

When our towns are full of empty buildings
And our trash is clogged with good food
While our countrymen sleep on the sidewalk
In any religion, or no religion, call that a sin.
A real bad sin. Careless management.
No way to treat your kin.

It could be your child, your old friend
Thinking, “I wonder if they remember me?”
It could be your mom or dad. Or you.
Someday, each one of us has to see.

©Nancy Zarins 2011, Tacoma, WA

FISH adds new location

We're very excited that we have now added an eighth location to our network of food banks across Pierce County. Our newest addition is Key Peninsula FISH, located at Key Peninsula Lutheran Church, 4213 Lackey Road KPN, Lakebay. Coordinator Wally Haugaard and volunteers from the church have been running a food bank at that location for about four years, and they now serve approximately 2,500 people per month.
The Key Peninsula location is open on Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday from 2:00-3:00 p.m.

On Wednesday, a new container was installed to provide additional storage on the site, and a group of volunteers from the naval base in Bremerton came out to build and install the shelving. 

New storage container being installed

Volunteers assembling shelving for the new container

Join us for "Coupons 101"

We're excited to announce that we are partnering with The Coupon Project to present "Coupons 101" on Tuesday, March 1 at 1:00 p.m. at Lutheran Church of Christ the King, 1710 85th Street East, Tacoma. (Map)

In this free one-hour class, local bargain blogger Angela Russell of The Coupon Project will share her secrets for smart shopping with coupons.  Let Angela show you how to stretch your budget dollars to the max! Topics will include:

• Why and how you should stockpile
• Where to find coupons and how to keep them organized
• The basics of using coupons with sales 
• Coupon etiquette 101
• Common myths about using coupons
• How to save on groceries beyond using coupons
• How to use coupons in a time-effective way

 For more information or to RSVP, please email us or call us at 253-383-3164

Volunteer training was a hit!

Thanks so much to FISH board member and City of Tacoma EEO officer Jerry Lee, who presented a great workshop on Diversity Awareness yesterday for volunteers from our food banks. About 40 people attended the lunchtime workshop at the Pierce County Library Processing and Administrative Center. Jerry had us all laughing but also gave us a lot to think about as we work to provide the best possible service to our clients. It was a great opportunity to take a look at our biases and assumptions, and how they affect our behavior with the people we encounter. A bit of role-playing provided lots of laughter and also lots of insight.

This was the first in what we plan to be a series of quarterly training sessions for our regular volunteers, and we're inviting all of our volunteers and supporters to suggest topics for future sessions. 

Jerry Lee discusses diversity awareness with FISH volunteers.

Volunteers and staff work together on a diversity exercise at Thursday's workshop.

 

More featured recipes

Thanks again to Celeste Greenwood of Washington State University Pierce County Extension, who has been providing recipe demos in our food banks throughout the month of January. Celeste has been featuring cooking tips for dry beans, peas and lentils; see below for her latest recipes.

Cooking Dry Beans, Peas and Lentils
Step 1:
     • Spread dry beans, peas or lentils into a shallow pan.
     • Pick out any discolored beans or bits of rock or dirt.
     • Place in a strainer and rinse under running water.

Step 2: Soak beans before cooking.
     Overnight Soak
          • Cover beans with unsalted water.
          • Cover pan, place in refrigerator and let stand overnight.     Quick Soak
          • Cover beans with unsalted water.
          • Boil two minutes in uncovered pan.
          • Remove from heat. Cover pan and let stand for one hour.

Step 3: Drain the soaking water. Cover beans in pan with fresh water.

Step 4: Bring to a boil, and then turn heat to low. Cook to desired doneness. See Cooking Tips, below!

Cooking Times
Beans, all varieties = 1 – 2 hours
Split peas, lentils = 30 – 45 minutes (You do not need to soak peas and lentils)
One cup dry beans = Three cups dry beans

Cooking Tips

1. For casseroles and salads, beans should be firmer.
2. For refried beans and soups, beans should be softer.
3. If you have hard water, beans will take longer to cook.
4. Do not add salt while cooking. Beans will stay hard.
5. Do a taste test after the shortest cooking time.
6. Don’t mix old beans with new beans. Older beans will take longer to cook.
7. Cook beans when you have time. Cool in cold water, place in freezer bags with date written on them, then freeze for up to six (6) months.

Low Fat Refried Beans
     Ingredients
          • 1 pound dry pinto beans, rinsed
          • 2 cloves garlic, minced
          • 1 medium onion, chopped
          • 1 Tbsp vegetable oil
          • 2 tsp ground cumin
          • 1 tsp chili powder
          • 1 tsp salt

Directions Using the Quick Soak Method

1. Place the beans in a large pot with a lid. Pick out any rocks or discolored beans.
2. Cover the beans with fresh water until they are covered with one inch of water.
3. Place over high heat, and bring to a boil.
4. When the beans have come to a boil, drain, and return them to the same pot.
5. Cover the beans with fresh water until they are covered with two inches of water.
6. Stir in chopped onion and one minced clove of garlic
7. Bring to a boil over high heat, and then reduce heat to low.
8. Cover and simmer until the beans are very soft and smash easily, about three hours, adding water as needed.
9. Once the beans have cooked, drain out the liquid, saving some if needed to thin out the beans.
10. Using a potato masher or fork mash them with the remaining minced clove of garlic, oil, cumin, chili powder and salt. (For creamier beans a blender or hand mixer can be used.)
11. Use additional cooking liquid as needed to get desired creaminess.
12. Place over low heat for 20 minutes, stirring occasionally to blend the flavors.

This material was funded by USDA's Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.
Recipe adapted from http://allrecipes.com/Recipe/Vegetarian-Refried-Beans/Detail.aspx. Accessed 1/6/11

Grocery Outlet and FirstFruits take a bite out of hunger

Yesterday at the Bonney Lake Grocery Outlet, FISH Food Banks received a generous donation of approximately 4,000 pounds of fresh apples, part of a 17,500 pound donation from Grocery Outlet's "Take a Bite Out of Hunger" campaign.  During the promotional campaign, each consumer purchase of loose or bagged apples helps Grocery Outlet earn apples for donation to local food banks: two apples for a five-pound bag purchased, one apple for a three-pound bag. Mark Holz, director of marketing for Grocery Outlet, said, "Our goal is to donate more than 50,000 pounds of apples to local food banks between now and February. This donation will help many and is perfect timing to provide nutritious food to those in need after the holiday season when there is less public attention on replenishing food bank reserves.”

Throughout the duration of the program, FirstFruits Marketing of Washington aims to partner with retailers throughout the United States to donate 1 million apples to food banks. 

Cooking Demos at FISH

Celeste Greenwood of the Washington State University Pierce County Extension will once again be offering cooking demos in our food banks during the month of January. Remaining dates are:
Lakes FISH:  Monday, Jan. 24, 2:00-5 pm
Graham FISH: Wednesday, Jan. 26, 2:00-5 pm
Northwest FISH: Wednesday, Jan. 19, 12:00-4pm
Southeast FISH: Friday, Jan. 21, 11:00 am-4 pm
                             Friday, Jan. 28, 11:00 am-4 pm
Edgewood FISH: Saturday, Jan. 22, 11:00 am-2 pm
                             Saturday, Jan. 29, 10:30 am-2 pm


Recipes shared in the demos will feature ingredients from the food banks. One of the recipes will be "Rice a'Ghetti," shared below. Other demos will feature cooking dry beans and making low-fat refried beans.

Rice A’ghetti with Canned Peas

Ingredients

1 tsp vegetable oil
1 onion, diced
1 lb. ground turkey
1 Tbsp garlic powder
1 cup uncooked rice
½ cup spaghetti, broken into 1 inch pieces
2.5 cups of water or broth
1 ‐15 oz can of tomato sauce
1 ‐14.5 oz can of peas, drained
black pepper to taste

Preparation
1. Heat oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onion and cook until they soften.
2. Add ground turkey and garlic powder to the skillet; stir occasionally until turkey is close to done.
3. Add rice and spaghetti pieces to turkey mixture. Stir until rice and spaghetti start to brown.
4. Add the water or broth and tomato sauce.
5. Cover and let simmer over low heat for 20 minutes.
6. Add can of drained peas. Stir and cook for 5 minutes longer or until the rice and spaghetti are tender and peas are heated. Add pepper to taste.