After a three-month closure, a Lower Queen Anne meals program on Tuesday, Feb. 21 started serving sandwich sack lunches once more. The program director credits community donations that topped $100,000 with rejuvenating the program.
"It's been really impressive that people have come forward in the way that they have," said director Elise Hale-Case.
People rallied to the cause late last year when the program closed its doors on Nov. 18, 2011, due to lack of funding. The program served up to 500 sack lunches a week. It was then operated by St. Vincent de Paul.
The program, located in the basement of the Sacred Heart Church, 205 Second Ave. N., now serves lunches Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. As part of the church's ministry, it has been rechristened the Queen Anne Food Program at Sacred Heart, she said.
Hale-Case, 24, said that after its closure, the program scrambled to find ways to reopen. News reports in Real Change ("St. Vincent de Paul to close Queen Anne meals program," Nov. 2, 2011) and The Seattle Times, she said, drew readers' attention. "A lot of people wanted to donate food and money and time," she said.
Of the three, money proved the most important. The program had a steady supply of donations -- in early February, she said, someone donated 250 pounds of food from Costco -- and a crew of 30 volunteers. As director of the program, Hale-Case is the sole paid staff member.
The infusion of cash will help to keep the program running for two years. It will also allow the program to distribute bags of groceries again. That program won't begin until sometime in March, she said.
During the three-month closure, Hale-Case researched numerous funding options. Part of her research turned up information that surprised her. When she Googled affordable or subsidized housing in Seattle, she said that Belltown, just south of program's doors, produced the most hits. "It's basically Denny to Pike," she said.
Such information counters assumptions about Belltown, she said, which many view as a haven for condo owners. As for Lower Queen Anne, she said the neighborhood, often seen as higher income, has many lower-income residents and visitors. Venture out in a two-block radius from the program, said Hale-Case, and you can encounter shelters run by Catholic Community Services, the Downtown Emergency Services Center and Compass Center.
Reopening the sack lunch program comes as a relief. Hale-Case said that since November, people have continued to knock on the program's door, asking for food. Now, she said, she can spread the word the program is back in full swing -- along with praising the impressive acts of generosity she's witnessed.
"What an incredible community Seattle is," she said. "It's been a positive response from people around this city."
They're having a grand re-opening on Wednesday Feb. 29 at 8:30 a.m., at the site located at 205 Second Ave. N.