I would like to express my heartfelt thanks to the Everett community for its generosity to the Everett Food Bank during the holidays this past Thanksgiving and Christmas. At the Everett Food Bank, where we serve more than 7,000 individuals monthly, we entered the holiday season with apprehension, feeling the effects of Hurricane Katrina on local donations. We finished the first quarter of the fiscal year with a 40 percent drop in local gifts of food and funding. However, October, November and December resulted in a remarkable turnaround, closing that gap to just 4 percent! More than 75 food drives, large and small, both private and business-driven, were conducted in our community in November and December alone. An amazing outpouring of goodwill!
The impact of this remarkable generosity allowed us to not only recover most of our shortfall, but also to provide holiday meals to more than 2,000 Everett families and support the sponsorship of almost 1,700 Everett families through the Holiday Basket Bureau – an increase of more than 36 percent. Food banks across our county experienced similar generosity, a tribute to the true spirit of our community: neighbors helping neighbors in a time of need.
With the arrival of 2006, we look forward to yet another strong year of partnering with the good people of Everett and the surrounding communities in Snohomish County. On behalf of the more than 400 employees of Volunteers of America Western Washington and more than 4,000 volunteer hours, we thank you for all your hard work and generosity!
Bill Humphreys
Director, Basic Needs Services
Volunteers of America Western Washington
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