PORT HADLOCK — Colorful fruits and vegetables lit up the Tri-Area Food Bank on Wednesday as more than 20 volunteers stationed behind tables loaded goods into large boxes for clients.
A line formed prior to the 10 a.m. weekly service, and when manager Mike Boock opened the doors at 760 Chimacum Road in Port Hadlock, clients came in a single-file line, started picking out grains and canned goods and advanced to protein and veggies before they reached the baked goods.
“We have a lot of working poor in Jefferson County, and we don’t want to dissuade them from coming in,” Boock said.
In fact, it was the opposite.
Food Lifeline Grocery Rescue program manager Sandra Largaespada came to Port Hadlock on Wednesday from Seattle to volunteer at the Tri-Area Food Bank. (Brian McLean/Peninsula Daily News)
Workers from Food Lifeline of Seattle, a nonprofit which provides services throughout western Washington, volunteered for the day.
They learned about the process, the people and the needs at both the Tri-Area and Quilcene food banks.
Just two weeks on the job as Food Lifeline’s director of equity and inclusion, Gregory Whiting got a firsthand look at the impact his organization can have.
“Because we work on the macro side, we coordinate these services in many places,” Whiting said. “We want to figure out what the needs are in the specific areas we serve.
“Today is a ride-along.”
Whiting worked with Chuck Gerstenberger and others to hand out jars of peanut butter, pods of coffee and toiletries.
Tri-Area Food Bank volunteer Barbara Smith offers a pair of cucumbers to a client Wednesday morning in Port Hadlock. (Brian McLean/Peninsula Daily News)
Farther down the line, Sandra Largaespada of Food Lifeline joined Tri-Area volunteer Barbara Smith. With protective gloves on their hands, they provided clients with beets, arugula, cabbage and mushrooms.
Largaespada is the manager of the grocery rescue program, which partners with Safeway, QFC and Costco, among others, to take food off the shelves on its pull date and provide it to places where it can immediately be used.
“We repackage and redistribute to homeless shelters, food banks and meal programs,” she said.
Boock, a retired Navy captain who has been the manager at the Tri-Area Food Bank for the past four years, said it can include most products, including meat and dairy.
“It’s food that’s still perfectly good for consumption, but the grocery stores take it off the shelves to keep the product moving,” he said.
Sandra Largaespada of Food Lifeline, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle, asks a Tri-Area Food Bank client if they want beets. The food bank preferred to keep their clients anonymous. (Brian McLean/Peninsula Daily News)
The Tri-Area Food Bank is one of four members of the Jefferson County Food Bank Association, which also includes Quilcene, Brinnon and Port Townsend. It serves between 200 and 225 families per week with up to 550 to 600 people, Boock said.
“Some families can go up to six or seven people,” he said.
While the number of clients vary with the season, many volunteers know the people they serve. An application process verifies the need for food and that it’s for human consumption, Boock said.
“We have never asked anyone to supply a pay stub,” he said. “In general, people don’t come to a food bank unless they need a food bank.”
Clark Gerstenberger, left, and Gregory Whiting work with clients on Wednesday at the Tri-Area Food Bank in Port Hadlock. Whiting is the director of equity and inclusion at Food Lifeline, a nonprofit organization based in Seattle which distributes 50 million pounds per year to different agencies in western Washington. (Brian McLean/Peninsula Daily News)
Food Lifeline delivered 2,700 pounds of food this week to a warehouse run by Olympic Community Action Programs. At 4 cents per pound, the all-volunteer Tri-Area Food Bank, which supports itself on private donations, spent $108.
“You can’t beat that,” Boock said.
Food Lifeline deliveries typically are made Tuesdays, and volunteers help to pick up and distribute items to each of the county food banks. Boock said about 40 people regularly volunteer at his location.
“I’m happy to see the final steps of what we’re doing,” Whiting said. “This is the reason why we’re doing this. This is the end result.”
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56052, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
