Ballard Food Bank

First time visit to the food bank with an online reserved time. The space is open with a cafe and resource hub and a center booth to process shoppers queuing up. At 11am the selection was very good- nice assortment of vegetables and fruit, lots of milk and breads. Good variety of canned goods too. Each shelf lists how many of each item can be selected. Once finished with the half hour shop there is checkout where items are reviewed and the cart returned. Staff were helpful and friendly. No rushed or crowded feel. A wonderful resource for the wide selection of people present. Will definitely return.

When homeless people come here they treat with decency and respect. But they have been having less food than it was before on Mondays. There preventing line cutting by doing RANDOM NUMBERS, (not first come first serve, for first round of visitors) so groups of people are discouraged cutting in line and don't want to show up at 4Am. Only other negative is the entree meal and big milk is usually bad. Good news, if you want to bring the drama here you won't be welcome. Anger and outbursts aren't tolerated.

Wonderful happy thanksgiving dinner, served by happy loving volunteers, that seemed to make my day better 😀 The grocery line went very fast. They have all their ducks in a row. Very organized.

Best place I was referred to check out. The resources they offer are just more than I had ever expected. Hot meals every day! Once a week shop for grocery necessities! Computer and phone use! And can Eben get your mail delivered there. Plus so much more. And the staff or volunteers are judge free patient and just kind. I don't feel like a looser seeking help here!

LOVE this food bank! It is set up like a grocery store, and you feel more like you're shopping, not begging. Makes you feel human, even when life pulls the rug out from under your feet. And everyone there is SO helpful! Have suggestions, as well as actual help, to get you through whatever you're facing. <3 ❤️ <3

The people are really nice and if you are struggling with food insecurity this is a great option. It is like a grocery store so you do not have to bring a bunch of items home that you will never eat. There is also a resource hub here and the hours are pretty extensive given they stay open until almost 7pm on some evenings. Also, you can make an appointment online to avoid unnecessary wait times.

Thank you Ballard Food Bank! Humbled to the point of tears at the quality of the food and access of this location during a big life transition. Ballard Food Bank is easy to visit and can supply you with full nutrition (including some GF options for the wheat intolerant) as well as additional supplies concerning dental hygiene, feminine products, baby food and diapers and some treats for dogs and cats when available. I’ll post images of the foods I was able to find so you know the type of quality nutrients you can get here. They even had a small selection of botanicals! I went home hopeful. Thank you to the volunteers making this place work. I hope to volunteer here soon.

So disgusting… It used to be very nice back in the day… a few months ago… Lol I am a person who cooks for bitter lake Park every Thursday… That is something that I do… It’s my passion… Because after all why are you giving people food they can’t cook… So I team up with Aurora Grill… And everything that I don’t need in my house I cook for people who cannot feed themselves… And I was called the volunteer… at some point…They allow me to feel good about what I was doing… but then my engine failed… In January… And now that it is fixed… I’m back to doing what I came here to do… And, it is disgusting how I was treated… I went from being a volunteer who was helping homeless people who needed food… to a homeless person who needed food… And was treated as such …so sad…The people who are volunteering there looked down on me… someone who just needed to eat… And they don’t know what I do… They just treated me like a piece of crap when I went to donate dog treats… I was treated horribly… I just took them all and donated them to Greenwood pantry… I don’t need all this… I can’t imagine how they treat people who need their help to eat… They had no meat… And they were very mean to me… Thinking that I need their help… Not knowing that I am a person who is volunteering on my own time with my own food and my own everything to feed people out here… Is disgusting how Seattle treats people… When they did not know I was a volunteer… They treated me like crap… Which is how they probably treat people who need help… I’m new from Boston trying to help out in Seattle… And I get why people don’t come to these people because they act like they are better than the people they’re helping… But it won’t stop me… Everyone is equal and they deserve to be treated like humans… Not a piece of crap that they are helping… To belittle… get new people… happier people… Not old ladies who just wanna find something to do… I’m so disappointed… But The people who cook the meals are amazing… they actually care about people… But the people who work the food bank is disgusting… horrible old ladies with attitudes….Stop treating people like they’re beneath you… With that being said I’m gonna keep doing what I’m doing… And hope it all works out… Take care and be safe and peaceful🤗

They have everything however there's a lot of drug activity happening that's not being discussed or handled

The Ballard Food Bank sets a high standard on quality assistance. This past year I have been very grateful for all their help. I was able to get groceries and even my mail delivered there. They even had vegan items set aside for us vegans when we ask for them which is amazing! Many thanks and appreciation for all that they do!

This is a neighborhood food bank and service center, as I call it. An individual can get a replacement ID, sign up to receive their mail, get food all in this Ballard spot.

The last two times I went to donate, the volunteers who responded to my yells were very inappropriate with me. Volunteers need to understand that they are representing the food bank and they have a direct impact on whether people feel safe and helped when donating. In my last two donations, the guy helping me hit on me for a date, and the other time, when looking into my cargo bay, the volunteer begged me to give him items in my car that I was not donating. I had to say no three times. To be clear, he was not encouraging me to donate, he wanted to have my clothes and car items for himself. I parked my car after donating and went back to talk to him about it, and he sort of understood and apologized. Which was more than I got from the management. I left phone messages to follow up that I thought it was important that volunteers be trained and vetted not to scare people away from donating. It's been several months now and I just don't feel it's worth the risk of stress to go back. I worry about those who are inside getting food and essentials. They don't have as many choices when volunteers are inappropriate. It's one thing when other clients/guests are cantankerous, you can just chalk that up to human nature when people are stressed by scarcity and traffic flow rules. Volunteers who uphold a higher standard of decent and helpful behavior would improve this place immensely. I have dealt with some focused, polite and appropriate ones, but incidents like I have had should simply not happen, ever.

Our family has had the pleasure of visiting this food bank twice in the last few months. Volunteers are always helpful and friendly.

Any community funded non- profit that helps out those in need of food, hygiene products, and other miscellaneous needs gets my Yelp 5 Star Stamp of Approval. I never give enough. Not many do. Some do. The folks at Ballard Food Bank do. They offer up a clothing and hygiene bar, home delivery of groceries for the elderly and disabled a few days a week, as well as lunch, and a coffee and pastry service on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday. They run a tight ship in there and I like it. I swung by this afternoon with a trunk full o' goodies and the place was boppin'. People were working hard, folks were being supplied with groes.. It was impressive. Give online if you so choose, which is pretty dang cool: http://www.ballardfoodbank.org/content/view/9/23/ Or donate in person: Donation hours are: Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays from 11:00 to 3:00pm Currently, they've got a promotion going at the Ballard Safeway where if you donate $5 with your grocery purchase, they'll donate a turkey to the Ballard Food Bank. I'm not a fan of this Safeway, but I am a fan of the bank, so I went ahead and did it. Spread a little holiday cheer and drop 'whatever you can' here when you're in the 'hood. It'll make you feel good. Damn good.

With winter rolling in, I decided to sort through my closet and donate all the sweaters and shoes I hadn't worn during the past year. If I haven't worn them recently, bet is I won't wear them again in the future. I thought of all the homeless and those in need who would benefit from the clothing more than me. When I passed by the clothing/shoe donation boxes around town, all three of the boxes are owned by FOR-profit companies and benefit off of our big hearts. I wanted to donate my items DIRECTLY to those who need them, without the chance of resale. I stopped in at the Ballard Food Bank which was hopping busy. The wonderful staff and volunteers accepted my clothing donations with open arms. They let me know that they give all the donations to The Bridge Care Center which serves Ballard's homeless, located at 1516 NW 51st Street. Normally they would have me stop over at The Bridge, but since they were closed they saved me an extra tip. After offering a charity tax form, they even had me write down my address for a thank you card. Great organization!

The people who work at the Ballard Food Bank are sweet, kind-hearted, and keep everything running smoothly. My sister and I stop in occasionally when we need help with groceries. Everyone is organized and help you in any way they can. You are always greeted with a smile and treated respectfully. I really like the fact that volunteers will make suggestions and tell you about the variety of food items available. After you select your groceries they quickly bag them up for you and even help you out to your car. Honestly, their customer service is what every grocery store wishes they could be. I wish I could give more than 5 stars.

Wonderful people doing terrific things for hard-working, struggling, underserved members of the Ballard community. By lifting them up, the Ballard Food Bank lifts us all. Yay! Love love love.

Whoo hoo! I just dropped off a donation of canned goods and feeling good! The guys were super nice, carrying a rather heavy box for me. There was a line of people waiting and I hope they get some good stuff from me!