Hunger in Seattle is not limited to the Thanksgiving and Christmas holiday season, even though that's the main time when many people think about it, according to John Rockwood, manager of the Downtown Food Bank.
"There is true hunger in this community - all over the city and all over the country. Every day, someone is deciding whether they can pay their bills or eat," he said. "It might not be someone roaring in pain, but it does hurt."
The Food Bank serves between 900 and 1,100 people every week, according to Rockwood. Many of them live in the downtown area, or the part of Seattle from Queen Anne to the International District to Capitol Hill, but clients can come from all over the area.
"We serve more people toward the end of the month, when other resources are running out," Rockwood said. "The number of people hasn't increased too dramatically - it's been about the same over the past three years."
He added that there was a sharp increase after the massive layoffs that struck the Puget Sound area in the wake of 9-11, the Boeing layoffs and the dot.com bust.
The food bank distributes food to the general population every Thursday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. And it serves senior citizens Tuesday mornings, in addition to making deliveries to about 280 homebound residents in downtown area apartments.
"We have a van and we go to low-income buildings from Belltown to Pioneer Square," Rockwood said. "We have on-site volunteers and a sign-up sheet in each building."
Customers of the Downtown Food Bank don't get a grilling about their identity or their income levels. Rockwood does ask for a zip code for identification purposes, and there is a limit of one visit to the Food Bank per week, but he realizes that many people are embarrassed to have to come to the Food Bank in the first place.
"People may appear to be more affluent, and they may even have phone numbers or jobs, but they can't make ends meet, so they are standing in a food bank line," Rockwood said. "It's not for me to judge why you're here. You might be driving a Mercedes or a Pinto."
The Food Bank staff consists of Rockwood, his assistant manager Stephanie Druxman, and a core group of 10 to 15 volunteers, as well as people who show up for specific tasks.
"We have people who are doing community service requirements for court, and students," Druxman said. "We would always like to increase our volunteers. It takes two hands, an able body and a willing spirit."
A common misconception people have is that at the end of the day, the Food Bank receives leftover baked good, fruits and vegetables from the market stalls upstairs.
"We get most of our food from Food Lifeline (http://www.foodlifeline.org/) and Northwest Harvest (http://www.northwestharvest.org/). We don't get a lot of our food from the Market itself," Rockwood said. "Certain merchants are especially helpful, like the Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory (http://rmcf.com/WA/Seattle50435/), Totem Smokehouse (http://www.totemsmokehouse.com/totem.html) and the Corner Produce Stand (625-5006) - with food and with cash donations."
Rockwood hastened to add that it's not a case of not caring, it's a case of shelf life and resources.
"It's not for lack of wanting to do it...but it takes a lot of work schedule-wise and resources-wise," he explained. "They don't have enough people to come down here every evening with their leftovers. Ideally, they don't have a lot of 'throwaway stuff,' and we wouldn't want 'throwaway stuff,' either."
He added that fresh produce definitely has a limited shelf life in anyone's refrigerator, and that includes the Downtown Food Bank.
"Our facilities can handle about one palette of fresh produce a week-maybe two right now during onion and potato season" Rockwood said.
Otherwise, the Food Bank distributes canned goods, dried food, and rice. The Food Bank's cupboards may not be bare, but it's getting harder to supply balanced meals.
Rockwood noted that it is getting harder for the Food Bank, as well as Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline, to get protein items.
"We could really use protein items, like tuna, peanut butter, eggs or meat," Rockwood said. "We can easily help with every part of the meal except for the protein items."
While the Downtown Food Bank hasn't been conducting food drives, Rockwood is beginning to lay plans to set one up in the near future. Stay tuned to www.pikeplacemarketnews.com for more details.
The Downtown Food Bank rents space from the Pike Place Market Preservation & Development Authority (PDA), and gets some support, but the Food Bank is an independent organization from the PDA.
The city of Seattle helps with some funds, but the Food Bank depends on donations (and donations to Food Lifeline and Northwest Harvest) to keep going.
Another key source of funding is the Figgy Pudding (www.figgypudding.org) fundraiser coming up Dec. 3.
The Downtown Food Bank does not host a Thanksgiving dinner (the Pike Place Market Senior Center does, but it is limited to members only), but it may add holiday food such as Turkey drumsticks to the shopping bags. That leaves the main Holiday event is Figgy Pudding (see sidebar).
Rockwood said the event is a lot of fun, and raises money for the Pike Place Market Senior Center and the Food Bank.
"It's hilarious-even if I didn't work here, I would go to it," Rockwood said. "There are thousands of people and everyone has a smile on their faces."
If you can't make it to Westlake Center Dec. 3, but would still like to help the Downtown Food Bank, you can call (206) 626-6462 or visit http://www.pikeplacemarket.org/foundation/donate/food.asp. The Downtown Food Bank is on Level 5 of the Pike Place Market (off the elevator serving the north skybridge).
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