Meet Dave, our Beloved Food Bank Greeter!

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When did you start at the Food Bank?

I started in January 2020 as a checkout person inside the Food Bank. Covid-19 hit Seattle shortly after that and we shifted operations outside. I was asked to be a greeter and chat with shoppers while they waited. It was getting to be spring, and I loved being outside with people.

Tell us about being a greeter at the Food Bank?

The people here is the best part. I know the community well now – after two years of seeing the same people our regulars become my friends. I’ve gained about 2000-3000 friends working here! When people don’t come one week, I miss them. 

I love speaking to them while they wait and keeping them company. Sometimes it’s standing in the rain for hours. I often like to walk around and sing and one of our customers says she comes just to hear me sing. 

I’ve always been a customer service-oriented person and simply enjoy talking to people. Previously I owned a construction company where I would rebuild houses for bed and breakfasts in Tacoma and Auburn. I moved to Seattle in 2011 after meeting my wife through an accidental text and phone call where we just started talking.

What do you enjoy about the Food Bank staff?

The directors have a gift when it comes to hiring and the staff fits so well together, it’s like a family.  I often am told how much I’m missed when I’m not there. The staff is so close because everyone has a common goal of making sure people’s needs are met. A lot of our shoppers are homeless and struggling, they are vulnerable and need someone to talk to. Everyone here understands that.

Every part of our team must work together because we’re dealing with so many parts that are interconnected. From food purchasing and donations to getting the food here, to the sorters who check for quality, to stalking our shelves. From there we have volunteers who shop for people and they need to be picky and not just throw things together you want the person receiving the food to enjoy it and to feed their family with pride. 

This is where volunteers come in; without them this full range of operations would not happen at the level it does. They are so appreciated. 

What else do you want people to know?

I feel like it’s my calling, to make people feel loved. Everyone has to eat, and we are here to help people from all walks of life. Our team knows how to meet people where they are without judgement, it’s been amazing to be a part of. 

Our older customers have so many stories. They talk with me and want to share and be heard, their stories are so rich. I feel honored to be a part of it.

Meet our Farm Manager Shanelle Donaldson & the Bloom Project

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Shanelle Donaldson is the rockstar manager behind the Food Bank’s rooftop garden program and has some incredible projects up her sleeve this spring! 

Shanelle started at the Food Bank in October 2020 taking over managing our rooftop garden where we grow seasonal fruits, vegetables, and herbs year-round to feed the community. With all that she does for us she’s also operated her own business, an urban farm called Percussion Farms, since 2016. It’s a backyard farm model where people donate space and she grows food in Seattle’s Central District, Beacon Hill and in Auburn. Food that’s grown is distributed to food banks and the local BIPOC community. 

In 2021 Shanelle partnered with the Doorway Project to found an urban farming job training program called the Bloom Project, dedicated to educating youth about how to grow food in an urban setting. Last year they had enough funding for one cohort and after receiving grant funding they will be able to offer two cohorts that will each run for 10 weeks in 2022 and in 2023!

The program is offered to 4-5 students per session ages 18-24 and focuses on black and indigenous youth, as well as those experiencing housing insecurity and living in youth care and transitional housing.  The students are paid $20 per hour for 10 hours of training per week and get to experience everything hands-on. They will spend 5 hours at the University District Food Bank and the other 5 hours at Doorway Project where they will work on building an urban garden and growing space. They will learn about food systems, how food is distributed, all about worms and composting from the folks at the Tilth Alliance, a beekeeper will teach them about bees and pollinators, and a local forager will take them foraging in the city. 

Additionally, art will play a big role in the curriculum offering a creative and healing experience. This includes painting beehives, writing poetry, making lip balm from flowers they grow, making vegetable dyes from veggies they grow, making seed paper, and building a mason beehive.  

After the 10 weeks they hope to place all students in urban agriculture jobs including at farmers markets, with beekeepers and at urban farms like Percussion. Shanelle hopes to open their eyes and minds into the world of urban agriculture which is filled with opportunities they may have never known about. 

Shanelle is also in the process of converting the Food Bank’s rooftop raised beds from milk crates to larger wood and metal beds that are deeper allowing for more growing options. We can’t wait for you to see it when it’s completed later this spring!

Help Us Grow the Food Bank Community in 2022!

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We couldn’t serve the families of Northeast Seattle without the support of the University District Food Bank’s amazing volunteers and donors! We have so many incredible people donating money, volunteering their time to help at the Food Bank, organizing community drives and helping to plan events like our Fall auction and more.
 
Even with all of this help every year we have people who move away, donate to a different cause or just get busy and no longer have the time to spend with us. To keep our community strong we’re asking you to join us in 2022 and help us grow!
 
Here’s few easy ways to help:

  1. Sign up for our e-newsletters at udistrictfoodbank.org and share our next one with three friends, encouraging them to sign up as well and stay connected
  2. Text three people and ask them to join you in volunteering or donating any monetary amount they can this year
  3. Post on Instagram and Facebook about getting involved, donating or attending one of our upcoming events

All of this helps to spread the word and grow our reach in the community so we may continue to operate and help more families!