South Kitsap Helpline: How Food Impacts

South Kitsap Helpline

The South Kitsap Helpline, located in down town Port Orchard near the water, is a service oriented non-profit organization. They serve the needs of those mainly living within South Kitsap. It is the South Kitsap Helpline's mission to provide low-income individuals with free food, references to appropriate organizations/services, limited financial support, temporary housing to fire victims, and earn funds for their programs through the selling of donated items at their Vintage to Vogue store. The South Kitsap Helpline has been of service to the community since 1980.

The Helpline is composed of the Helpline Food Bank as well as the Vintage to Vogue Treasures and Collectibles, a consignment and thrift store. Both pillars of the organization are located at the Westbay Center at 1351 Bay Street in Port Orchard. Proceeds from the thrift store support the food bank. They can be reached at (360) 876-4089.

The Food Bank provides food to around 3,000 children, adults, and senior citizens each month. Almost half of those served are children. In 2007-2008 the Food Bank provided groceries to more than 11,013 local families comprised of 36,607 individuals. 2,359 families during the period were new to this assistance. In addition $11,200 worth of furniture, clothing, and household items were donated to families and people in need. The Food Bank is open Monday through Friday from 10am-3pm.

In order to be provided with food you must provide a photo id as well as proof of residency. A utility bill, DSHS medical coupon, rental bill, etc. can be used for this purpose. The Food Bank does serve those living outside of South Kitsap, though they usually refer them to a more local service if possible. Federal commodities are also available three times a month during the normal hours for those living at or below the poverty level.

The public is encouraged to provide donations of food to assist feeding the hungry. Food cannot be expired and must be prepared in a commercial kitchen or bought from a store. For instance home made sandwiches would not be accepted for health and safety reasons. These donations can be brought in during normal business hours as well as certain pick up times.

However, one of the creative ways that the food bank offers food to those it serves is by encouraging local people to grow fresh fruits and vegetables in their own gardens and donating them to the Food Bank. They encourage people to plant an extra row for the bank! The food bank can go through an amazing quantity of food, often more than 900,000 lbs per year. To support this continuous stream of food to help others, local organizations such as churches and religious groups, businesses, and communities combine forces and hold special food drives to support the Food Bank.

A very recent development has occurred for the Helpline. They are in the process of wrapping up a purchasing agreement to buy the former Port Orchard Nursery property. This is a wonderful step forward for the organization as it will allow a large amount of fresh produce to be grown to help the needy. The owners of the nursery and the South Kitsap Helpline Board have already signed papers for a selling price and the terms and conditions have been agreed upon. A 90 day feasibility study is now under way to address certain environmental issues. The Helpline has been approved for several private grants to fund the purchase including the Birkenfeld Trust grant. These grants are in their final approval stages.

The Helpline plans to transition into the new facilities in mid January of 2010 when planting of the greenhouses will begin. The entire agency hopes to move its operations to the nursery site on Mitchel Road beginning in June 1st of 2010. The move is based upon plans to enable the Helpline to grow much of their own healthy food for the Food Bank, to help others to learn how to grow their own food, and to expand their money generating capacity to support their programs.

As the Helpline has been extremely busy the last weeks an on site visit was put on hold. Instead I had an opportunity to speak with the executive director of the Helpline, Jennifer Hardison. Jennifer has always been involved with non-profit work and when she moved to Port Orchard she saw the opportunity to work at the Helpline and applied. She finds service to others and being of help, one of the most rewarding things in the world. She was very kind and had so much exciting news to share that directly pertained to the nutritional content of the food that the Food Bank offered.

Currently the Food Bank is heavily dependent on donations from community members and businesses for the food they can offer. When a family comes to the Food Bank they are given a volunteer packed shopping cart worth of food, the amount depending on the amount of family members. These foods primarily consist of shelf staple foods, canned foods, and non-perishable items. When funds are available they also supplement these items with purchased milk, meats, eggs, etc. The Food Bank also offers basic amenities such as toilet paper, toothbrushes, and toothpaste. Many groceries offer their day old breads that are also distributed amongst those in need. Recently the Food Bank put together 1,000 Thanksgiving baskets and plan to do the same at Christmas time.

With the expected move to the Port Orchard Nursery site many wonderful changes will gradually occur. The Helpline plans to move to a Self-serve Model of providing food. This will include a point system to help those picking out food to focus on healthy nutrition. Each family or individual will have so many points each month to use on picking out food. Healthier/nutrient dense foods will be less points while less nutritionally healthy foods such as sweets will be more. The system will also include a nutritionist who will work with people to help others make smart choices for the food they pick out.

The greenhouses on property will be utilized to grow fresh fruits/vegetables, some of which will be utilized to offer to those in need, and some to sell generating funds for the programs. The Helpline also plans on offering community supported classes to educate those coming to the Food Bank on how to grow their own food, to prepare healthy meals, and a variety of others subjects. These classes will be free to those using the Food Bank and might include a charge for the public at large to help support the Helpline financially. The future of the Helpline and it's Food Bank program are bright indeed. The service they offer to the needy and the contributions they are making to our community are inspiring, uplifting, and reflective of our responsibility and joy to take care of others.

Jennifer wanted to express on behalf of the Helpline, from all of the staff, their gratitude and thankfulness for all those who make the Helpline's efforts a reality. She shared that it was only possible to accomplish their services with the support of the community, volunteering, donated financial funds, and hard work of so many community members. The more the community is involved with the Helpline, the greater can be its positive impact in the lives of the thousands it serves day in and day out.

Additional Sources:

South Kitsap Helpline Website. Viewed 12.7.09. http://skhelpline.org/index.php