Mill Creek Community Food Bank

Community Helps Fill The Shelves After Mill Creek Food Bank Ran Out Of Supplies

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MILL CREEK, Wash. A food bank in Mill Creek ran out of donations and hundreds of families were turned away, until a call to action from the community not only filled the shelves, but also stomachs and hearts.

We had cars that lined up all the way down Seattle Hill Road, 35th for blocks, said Jennifer Boyington, director at the Hope Creek Charitable Foundation, the organization that runs the Mill Creek Community Food Bank.

Over 200 cars were turned away this week after the food bank ran out of donations.

That is the hardest part of my job, said Boyington. She said it’s been a challenge providing for those in need in 2020 amid the coronavirus pandemic.

Our numbers grew about 115% after COVID hit and they havent gone back down, Boyington said. Theres no way to describe just the fear that everyone is living in right now and yeah, its just heart breaking.

A post on the Mill Creek Community Food Bank about the need for donations drew hundreds of people with food that filled the food bank’s shelves, as well as monetary donations.

At this point Im like, where am I going to put all this food till we give it out, which is a great problem to have, said Boyington.

Those 200 families that were turned away are now able to get the food they need.

Volunteers Always Needed For Mill Creek Food Bank

From left: Jennifer Boyington, Rebecca Lambert, Darlene Whitney, and Nathan Jameson

The Mill Creek Community Food Bank is run by the Hope Creek Charitable Foundation, established in 2016 after a group of students from Jackson High School saw peers struggling with food insecurity.

Hope Creek Charitable Foundation is a nonprofit run mostly by volunteers. Its two main programs are the Mill Creek Community Food Bank and the Backpack of Hope program, where every Friday over 200 backpacks go out to children in need.

Food is provided in the backpack the program helps 15 local schools.

Thirty-three percent of students in the Everett School District are dealing with food insecurity. Operations today are at about 360 volunteer hours per week volunteers are always needed.

“We do have the event space of Gold Creek Community to use for the upcoming holiday distributions. In the past, we been able to serve 700-800 families each Thanksgiving and Christmas,” said Hope Creek Interim Director Rebecca Lambert.

She added that they have a partnership with Door Dash, allowing them to pack and deliver donated food bank items to customers. This program is for established food bank customers in local zip codes.

Many donations come from donors and grocers. In 2021, Hope Creek gave 1.585 million pounds of food, serving more than 78,000 people.

Annual Fall Food Drive: October 30 November 13

• Food donations can be dropped off at Food Bank labeled receptacles throughout the church building during the week or on the tables at each entrance on Sundays during the Food Drive.
• If youd like to give to the Food Bank financially, you can donate online by clicking HERE. Your financial donations help to provide fresh produce, baked goods, and dairy for our clients.
• Below is the 2022 Fall Food Drive List:

Recommended Reading: Central Pa Food Bank Order Online

Mill Creek Community Food Bank Open In Need Of Donations

They need cooking oil, canned soup, cereal, bottled juice, canned beans and packaged meal kits like Hamburger Helper

The Mill Creek Community Food Bank is still open and offering help through an online ordering form and curbside pickup in light of the spread of the coronavirus.

The change in operations is the food banks efforts to help stop the spread of COVID-19 by social distancing.

Hope Creek is doing our part to keep our food bank customers and volunteers safe from unnecessary germ exposure – which means moving forward, we will be doing online orders ONLY. Follow this link to shop the food bank, and we will do our best to provide you with as much of your wishlist as we can, according to their Facebook post, March 14.

Here is the link to select a pick-up time of Monday through Saturday: calendly.com/hopecreekcf.

There is also an online ordering form to tell the food bank what you need on the webpage to select a pickup time. Volunteers will pre-shop for groceries and give them to visitors when they arrive. As of April 10, the food bank has started lining up cars based on family size and need to be able to serve people more efficiently. According to their Facebook page, they have seen a 50% increase in people in need.

The food bank is right behind the Gold Creek Community Church building.

They are especially in need of:

-Cooking oil

Mill Creek Community Food Bank Partners With Doordash

Mill Creek Community Food Bank

Many business models with loosening COVID restrictions are changing to accommodate those staying at home. Nonprofit food banks are no different, and Mill Creek Community Food Bank has found a way to serve those at home with a modern twist.

When Jennifer Boyington, director of Hope Creek Charitable Foundation, saw another food bank partnering with DoorDash, she got inspired. So she reached out to DoorDash to begin a partnership to help those Mill Creek residents in need.

The program, launched in May, delivers food directly to people’s homes. Its goal: To give customers more opportunities to get groceries.

“We’ve had a few of our customers that haven’t been able to utilize the food bank for medical reasons, or other things like that,” said Boyington. “They are the returning customers that are now utilizing this option.”

The food bank is completing 150-200 DoorDash orders a week, Boyington said. Customers submit their food requests by Sunday evening, with three days of delivery options. Many use the latest option.

The respond has been exceptional.

“We are able to now expand to maybe almost half of our customers through DoorDash,” said Boyington.

There is still one in-person shopping day. Some people want to choose their food themselves, which is understandable, Boyington said. The food bank spreads out delivery days and the in-person day to ensure all customers get freshly donated food.

Jasper Willson

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User Questions And Answers

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Mill Creek Community Food Bank

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Sly Mr Y Concert To Support The Mill Creek Community Food Bank

The Mill Creek Town Center is pleased to announce a one-night performance by one of our favorite Summer Concert Series bands, Sly Mr Y, on Wednesday, September 16th, from 6 to 8pm. This performance is sponsored by The Mill Creek Town Center, Gold Creek Community Church, Hope Creek Charitable Foundation, the Mill Creek Chamber of Commerce, North Creek Roofing, First Financial Northwest Bank, Columbia Funding Mortgage and Senior Care Consultants. The performance will be live streamed to the community. Gold Creek Community Church will also have a movie screen set up in their parking lot that will show the performance. They can accommodate about 70 cars at their location for this special event.

We hope that you will enjoy this free live stream concert and support our local food bank as we join together to make a difference in the lives of families in Mill Creek. DONATE TO THE FOOD BANK.

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