Quarterly Newsletter | Winter 2020
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FAST FACT!
Despite the spike in living expenses, the federal minimum wage is still $7.25/hr. and hasn't increased since 2009. As of 2020, minimum wage in Washington is $13.50/hr.. These wages are not nearly enough to cover rent in their respective geographical areas.
Nationally, a full-time minimum wage worker would need to make at least $22.10/hour to cover a modest two-bedroom place, not including the expenses for other basic necessities.
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Only 21 states have a higher minimum wage than the federal rate; none of which are close to the minimum $22.10/hour needed for adequate housing nationwide (
Source
).
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Executive Year-End Report
By Cori Walters
Many of you have seen either myself, other staff members, or volunteers of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank zipping around, trying not to be frantic, and expressing (with a smile, of course) that we are “so busy!”
Our food bank alone saw a 22% increase in services from 2018 to 2019 (Figure 1), meaning we’ve provided 3,520 more services in our food bank from one year to the next. We also saw a 41% increase – or 5,316 more touchpoints – in our
special programs
, including our youth feeding and grocery delivery programs. These are record-high numbers for our food bank and special programs! We believe this spike is attributed to
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Champion Spotlight - YOU!
By Claire Lee
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From the kindergarteners who organized a classroom food drive, to the 85-year-old woman who made a bequest to the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank in her will, people of all ages are finding impactful ways to participate in our mission. Winston, age 12, said “I am inspired to give because I know someone who was less fortunate.”
As we reflect on the past few months, we are blown away by the number of people who stepped up to help meet the need in our community. That is why we wanted to use our Winter Champion Spotlight platform to recognize
YOU
...
READ MORE
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Click
here
to read the rest of Winston's letter!
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Join us for Tacos & Trivia!
We want to say THANK YOU for the tireless effort and dedication of our volunteers in making the work of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank possible. We couldn't do any of this without you. Come and celebrate your hard work with an evening full of tacos and tricky trivia!
Tuesday, March 3rd
6:00 - 8:30 p.m.
Pickering Barn in Issaquah
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David's Story
By Bonnie DeCaro-Monahan
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After 17 years, David Hall had to leave his career at Microsoft due to health complications associated with kidney failure. His life was being sustained by dialysis treatments 10 hours a day, 3 days per week. The prognosis wasn’t good until 2015 marked the end of a 10-year wait for a kidney and he was able to undergo a successful transplant procedure. Post-transplant, David was able to receive disability, which was not sufficient to sustain him, but he was fortunate to find stable housing at the YWCA in the Issaquah Highlands.
For a period of time, David didn’t have a vehicle and the exorbitant cost of private transportation made accessing basic needs resources virtually impossible
...READ MORE
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Lunch for the Break - Midwinter Break 2020
By Erin Longchari
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Your generosity helped feed 385 kids in the Issaquah School District over Winter Break!
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Kids count down the days until their next school break - a perfect time to relax, sleep in and hang out with friends.
For parents, however, these long breaks can put additional strain on already tight family finances. Having kids at home all day, all week might mean paying for additional childcare, arranging special activities, and taking care of breakfast and lunches usually provided by the school. Our
Lunch for the Break
program provides a week's worth of easy-to-prepare breakfast, lunch, and snack foods for school kids, helping to ease any stress around grocery budgets during breaks.
Big changes are underway with Lunch for the Break
...
READ MORE
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10th Anniversary Turkey Trot
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Thank you to everyone who participated in the 10th Anniversary of the Issaquah Turkey Trot!
With the combined efforts of...
- 4,200+ Trotters
- 150+ Volunteers
- 21 Sponsors
- Thousands of donors
$103,000 and 200 lbs of food were raised to reduce food insecurity in our community.
Mark your calendars now for Turkey Trot 2020 on November 26, 2020.
We hope to see you all there!
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The Bigger Picture
By Rebecca Rice
In the United States, many concern themselves with people in poverty. Some see them as those who seem to be getting something for doing nothing, especially when that “something” is paid for by taxpayer dollars. It’s easy to assume that people aren’t working hard enough, that they are lazy, or that they will be a burden on society. This leads us to wonder,
why
wouldn’t an able-bodied person with no dependents enter the workforce?
While a large percentage of Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank clients have at least one working member in the household, there are many reasons a person doesn’t work
...
READ MORE
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Event Sponsorship Opportunities
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Is your company or organization looking for ways to support our efforts while also gaining some exposure in the community? We have three amazing annual events that offer fun sponsorship opportunities. Be sure to check out our
Event Sponsorships page or contact
Bonnie for more details.
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Scouting for Food
On
March 28th, the local troops of the
Chief Seattle Council, Boy Scouts of America will be collecting food donations for their annual
Scouting for Food campaign!
The Boy Scouts of America collect food during the month of March as a way to help fill the gap of donations between two food-drive-heavy holidays: Christmas and Easter.
- In 2018, the Scouts collected 6,521 pounds of food for the IFCB.
- In 2019, the collected amount increased to 8,048 pounds.
We encourage everyone to participate by setting new, unexpired, non-perishable food outside of your front door on March 28th to be collected by your local Boy Scout troop and donated to the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank.
If you're interested in planning your own food drive, please contact
Mike for more information.
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Thank you to the
thousands of donors and
400+ volunteers who helped make Holiday Gift Barn a HUGE success! This year,
over 550 families from our community were able to personally select gifts for their children through our Holiday Gift Barn program.
Your generosity provided gifts for
over 1,400 children this holiday season!
Check out more pictures from our biggest service event
here!
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Save the Date for Partner's Picnic 2020
Calling all donors, volunteers, and community partners who are helping to reduce food insecurity in our community. This summer, we'll all gather to celebrate what we are accomplishing TOGETHER!
Bring your family for delicious food, fun activities, and even prizes! Mark your calendars now for
Sunday, July 26th
from
4:00 to 6:30 p.m.
Hope you can join us!
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Save the Date for
Recipe for Hope 2020
Tuesday, September 29, 2020
Eastridge Church in Issaquah
Breakfast: 7:00 a.m.
Lunch: 11:30 a.m.
Check out the video from last year's Recipe for Hope fundraiser!
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Donors! We want to hear from you!
Are you a financial supporter of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank?
If you haven't already, we would love it if you could spare 5 minutes to provide your valuable feedback, so we can make efforts to improve your overall donor experience!
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