By: Jeremy Peck, Director of Development
One of my first jobs when I moved to Seattle over twenty years ago was to serve as the Development Director at the Mercer Island Boys & Girls Club (MIBGC), which included managing their capital campaign to build a new site. Some of you might be asking yourself, “Why is there a Boys & Girls Club on Mercer Island?” And I’m sharing that first because we often get asked a similar question when talking about the Edmonds Food Bank and our capital campaign, both by Edmonds residents and non-residents ~ “Why is there a food bank in Edmonds?” There’s often a perception that people living in wealthier communities don’t need or aren’t eligible for social services, but that’s not the case. While Mercer Island and Edmonds do have many higher-income households, there are also individuals and families who face financial challenges.
As Mayor Rosen has stated, “Edmonds, on the surface, may look like an idyllic bedroom community with above average household incomes and home prices, but that perception hides the stark reality that 11% of our population lives at less than 200% of the federal poverty level. Depending on the census tract, we have areas of the city where up to 19% of residents live below this level.” We have shared in many of our communications what food insecurity is about. It’s about supporting anyone who is in crisis or in the middle of making critical choices based on their situations, and food banks are lifelines for those who need food on a regular basis or just once in a while.
I also wanted to share that before I began work at MIBGC their capital campaign was already underway. They had raised close to $2 million toward their $14 goal. It was a big project to be built on the property of Mercer Island High School and involved many contingencies including cooperation with the City of Mercer Island and School Board, impact of the new site on the neighbors, the sale of the current property, and of course funding. To say that the experience was a roller coaster is an understatement. The City would need to make code amendments, the School Board would have to vote on one thing after another, neighbors of both the current site and the proposed site needed to be heard and demanded meetings, building plans needed to be revised, Club leadership changed, and funders would come and go. The number of ups, downs, twists, and turns was relentless! After three and a half years without breaking ground and talks of closure were underway, I’ll admit that I had to exit the ride and pursue another opportunity.
Since then, I have been part of other capital campaigns and while the journey was not the same as MIBGC, there were many similarities. First, none of the projects started on time. This is mostly because capital campaign timelines are usually very aggressive. You might be wondering why, and the answer is that organizations come to the decision to embark on a capital campaign to build a new site not because they want to or it would be “nice” to have a new building. They do so because they HAVE to. Their current properties are no longer physically able to meet the growth in needs of their communities, and they NEED a new building yesterday. And that is certainly the case with us. As food insecurity continues to soar, our current location is not able to meet this growth in need. We lack the necessary storage, are currently only able to distribute on Monday afternoons and Tuesday mornings, and lack space for our partnering organizations to provide additional services including health/wellness screenings, employment support, cooking classes, and financial literacy services to name a few. A new Edmonds Food Bank is not a want but a need.
Another thing in common is that while no campaigns ended up starting on time, they all ended up happening. I’m saying this because earlier this month Edmonds Lutheran Church (the site we had been moving forward with to build on) informed us that their congregation has decided that now is not the best time for them to continue collaborations to build a new food bank. We therefore now are continuing to look for another location for our new home. And while our timeline is as soon as possible, we don’t know when it will happen. But based on my experiences, rest assured, it will happen because what made them all happen is community support.
In all cases, the communities stayed firm in their support of the campaigns. Whether it was through advocacy, forging new relationships, or providing funding, the communities did not give up because they knew how critical and life saving their new homes would be. So to everyone has stood behind us to date, THANK YOU, and please know that our campaign is moving forward. And for those yet to get involved, we invite you to join us. Come take a tour, schedule a meeting with us, or just give us a call to learn more about how you can provide support.
Two years after I left MIBGC I was invited to the groundbreaking and the new facility opened eighteen months later. So please stay firm with us, join us, and I look forward to seeing you at the new Edmonds Food Bank groundbreaking because our new home cannot be built without you. One thing I know is that it is always worth the wait.
Learn more here about Thrive Together: A Capital Campaign to Build a New Edmonds Food Bank or contact Jeremy directly at: development@edmondsfoodbank.org.
