SEQUIM – Just in time for Thanksgiving basket assembly, the Sequim Food Bank’s been given a lift.
This one is the steel kind, a $4,300 lift made by Allform Welding of Sequim and paid for with donations ranging from $20 to $1,000.
Locals made the lift happen, said food bank volunteer Stephen Rosales.
Within about a week of the bank’s call for donations, the Sequim Sunrise Rotary Club contributed $1,000.
Several anonymous donors gave the rest, Rosales said, while he stood on the lift on Wednesday morning with a cartload of bread, eggs and milk from Safeway.
Earlier this month, Bill Fatherson, another volunteer and the husband of Sequim Food Bank director Nina Fatherson, was loading boxes into the bank’s truck when he dropped them and, losing his balance, fell across them. He’s in a wheelchair, his femur cracked in two places.
“He keeps asking, ‘When can I get out there?'” said Nina, who’s worked at the bank with Bill for 26 years now.
Her husband had an appointment for an X-ray on Wednesday, after which his doctor might estimate when he can exit the wheelchair.
When Bill returns to work, the new lift will make loading the truck easier and safer, Nina said.
The food bank is heading into its busiest season – the holidays – and collects donated and discounted goods six days a week at Safeway in Sequim and three days a week at Costco Wholesale.
QFC and Sunny Farms also contribute, Rosales said.
Rosales has been driving the food bank truck – purchased last year with community donations – while Bill convalesces.
And Rosales, who at 51 is 29 years younger than Bill, is finding the early-morning rounds taxing.
He looks forward to the day when Bill returns.
Nina, however, said her mate must stay home as long as his doctor dictates.
“If he breaks that bone, he’ll have to have pins put in it,” she added. “That’s scary.”
“It’s scary for me, too,” Rosales said.
Surgery would, of course, lengthen Bill’s recovery time, keeping Rosales on the road alone longer.
And he’s eager to start his next revenue-generating project: finding businesses to buy advertisements on the sides of the food bank van.
