Merry Christmas at Southeast FISH

It's looking a lot like Christmas at SE FISH this week. Santa has been holding court, greeting clients and volunteers alike with hugs and hearty ho-ho-hos. Parents are receiving bags of candy for the little ones at home, and kids who come to the food bank are receiving candy and toys from the big guy himself.



While most of the kids were surprised and excited to see Santa, some wanted to talk. One serious young fellow, clutching his new game, asked, "what's the hardest part of your job?" He nodded soberly when Santa told him it was when the littlest kids get scared, agreeing, "yeah, I guess that would be hard."

But the overall mood is very festive, with Christmas decorations throughout the food bank and volunteers wearing their holiday best.

Below, volunteer Marina takes advantage of a momentary lull to pose with Santa:



Five-year-old Shalisa appointed herself Santa's helper while she waited for her mom to finish shopping. She was excited to receive a new learning game and a bag of candy from Santa.

Making birthdays happy!

Production line workers at Tacoma's Birds Eye Foods held a birthday drive for FISH Food Banks as part of their company's United Way campaign. Each worker was challenged to bring in one birthday party item - cake mix, frosting, candles, birthday plates and cups, party hats and more. The workers would have a party of their own if they reached their goal of 160 items. They had plenty of cause to celebrate when the final count came in at over 500 birthday items! The party supplies will be used by the food banks to offer a "birthday in a box" package to client families. What a great way to provide a birthday celebration to kids and a little relief to families struggling just to make ends meet!

Special thanks go to all of the workers who contributed, to Birds Eye staff Andee Handeland, Cathy Kilgore and Georgiana Marzano, and to United Way Loaned Executive Mark Kawabata.