Food Lifeline

Washington Announces Fund for Food Banks, Which Face a Drastic Shortage | Eater Seattle

"I learned that Food Lifeline supplies nearly half the food for 300 food banks, shelters, and other hunger relief organizations in Washington, but has been hit hard: grocery-store donations that usually make up nearly half of donations have been depleted and the organization—normally supported by 19,000 volunteers a year—is currently relying on only 15 to 20 volunteers. Chef Tom Douglas has supported the group, which has restructured operations to produce between 100,000 and 300,000 bags of food per week (each bag contains about 22 pounds of non-perishable items, such as peanut butter and canned goods, and are moved on large pallets) and has rented a massive 250,000 square-foot warehouse in SoDo to give volunteers and workers room for social distancing (about six to 10 feet between stations) with conveyor belts to minimize contact. I also note that leaders hope the National Guard can assist with distribution and that several million dollars will be needed to sustain the full effort." - Gabe Guarente