OUR COMMUNITY, OUR VISION
The City of Tukwila, Washington is just south of Seattle in King County. The city is home to an extensive retail and business area including Westfield Shoppingtown Southcenter Mall. Boeing Field is located at the North end of Tukwila. Because of the many businesses located in the city, 45,000 people come to work in Tukwila daily, but only 17,000 people actually live within the city limits.
South King county has a large percentage of families with children living in poverty. At Cascade View Elementary School, just two blocks from the Tukwila Pantry, over 80% of the students qualify for free and reduced lunch programs.
At the Tukwila Pantry we secure and distribute nutritious food to clients. Volunteers from the Tukwila Pantry pick up food daily from Albertsons, Costco, Sam’s Club and Gai’s Bakery. Twice weekly the Pantry truck picks up food from Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline. Gathering this food allows the Tukwila pantry to feed our clients for about 10¢ a meal. Even with these generous donations, the Pantry has certain operating costs. Transportation of food, utilities, and the salary of one paid employee are the major expenses.
The Pantry’s food is stored in two 25-foot containers and one 48-foot trailer. We have a large walk-in refrigerator/freezer that UPS donated in 2004. Forty to fifty volunteers work 30 hours a week to distribute food to people who are in need.
The Tukwila Pantry is an ‘emergency’ food bank. Clients come to the Tukwila Pantry when they can’t make ends meet. Sometimes they have applied for food stamps but haven’t received them yet, or sometimes an unexpected expense such as a medical bill or higher than normal utilities have interrupted their budget. The Tukwila Pantry serves other communities as well. Over 1,500 households from Seatac, Burien and the surrounding areas were served in 2005.
The clients of the Tukwila Pantry are your neighbors. You may live in a different suburb, or community, but you visit Tukwila and Seatac when you fly to Seattle, or visit Southcenter Mall and the surrounding businesses. You have an opportunity to provide food to children in these cities who are hungry by making a financial contribution to the Tukwila Pantry. At 10¢ a meal your money will go far. Please help by sending a contribution to the Tukwila Pantry today.
Please don’t delay — “In the land of plenty, plenty are hungry.” You can make a difference.
Kelly Bachenberg
Tukwila Pantry Board Chairman