Thanks to a fast partnership, food bank delivers breakfast to 230 families
Thanks to a fast partnership, food bank delivers breakfast to 230 families
How do you make breakfast when there’s cereal on the table, but no milk? On a recent Wednesday, Salt of the Earth Food Blessing food bank faced this dilemma when they received a generous donation of a full pallet of breakfast cereals but had no milk in stock. With a few phone calls, and quick coordination with Food Lifeline, the team found a solution that provided a favorite breakfast combo to 230 families.
Luckily, Alyson Cork, Salt of the Earth Food Blessing Executive Director, happened to see an email the following Thursday from Food Lifeline, alerting their partners that they had just received a large donation of whole milk for immediate distribution.
Salt of the Earth Food Blessing in Arlington, WA, primarily works with Food Lifeline through RAFP (Retail and Food Service Partnerships). Through this program, Food Lifeline connects network partner food banks with their local grocery store to receive unsold food products that are ready to use by the community.
Alyson called Raela Patterson, her coordinator on the RAFP team at Food Lifeline, to see if the milk was still available. Raela recognized that the milk was just what the community needed to complete the meal. She immediately reached out to the food resources team, who quickly put together a special order of 230 gallons of fresh, whole milk.
Raela shared, “One of my favorite parts of this work is being able to make connections that help our partners meet community needs. It was great to help connect Salt of the Earth Food Blessing with the milk they needed so it could be distributed alongside the cereal they had received. Seeing resources come together in a way that directly supports families is incredibly rewarding.”
Although Arlington is 50 miles away from the Hunger Solution Center and order pick-ups are rare, the Salt of the Earth Food Blessing team adjusted their schedule to drive to South Park to pick up this special donation. Procuring the milk on Friday meant the food bank could offer this favorite breakfast combo during their busy Saturday distribution.
Alyson Cork recalled, “That week, 230 happy families took home a classic breakfast combo – a gallon of milk, and a box of cereal. Kids cheered.
With today’s high food prices, a gallon of whole milk costs about $4.48, and a box of cereal is another $5. This donation helped families stretch their budgets a little more that week.
For Salt of the Earth Food Blessing, getting milk from Food Lifeline helped the food bank stretch its food procurement budget and provide more food for the community.
“It warms our hearts when the connections come together – we love what we do.” Alyson Cork affirmed.
-Alyson Cork, Salt of the Earth Food Blessing Executive Director
Fast action and creative problem-solving proved to be the winning combo for Salt of the Earth Food Blessing and Food Lifeline, working in partnership to make sure neighbors have the right foods at the right time.
