Good Cheer Capital Campaign Meets Goal!!

Aug 022011
 
 August 2, 2011  Posted by Mark Clawson No Responses »

Last Thursday afternoon the board members, staff and supporters of The Good Cheer Food Bank and Thrift Stores celebrated reaching the goal of our Capital Campaign. We began the fundraising effort in 2007 and we finally reached our goal of $1.4 million, thanks to a community that really cares.

The Good Cheer Food Bank has taken on a life of its own. Kathy McLaughlin, executive director of the food bank says that “The community owns it, it’s not one person, and everybody feels that they’re part of Good Cheer.” We know that this why it is so special, it has become a part of the social culture on South Whidbey.

The South Whidbey Record had a wonderful article by Rebecca Leisher about the campaign and the community support that it has received over the years.

Bob Olson (Good Cheer Campaign Chair) and L. Jay Ryan (Good Cheer Board President) have composed a letter that we are proud to share with the community.

Good Cheer Capital Campaign Goal Met Thanks To You

Heartfelt thanks to all who contributed to Good Cheer Food Bank & Thrift Stores’ Capital Campaign, especially those who donated to Whidbey Island Bank’s recently completed Community Challenge, which raised a total $31,160. Special commendations go to Whidbey Island Bank branch managers Anne Bobinac (Freeland) and Pam Bickel (Langley) who spearheaded this effort.

The good news: we have finally reached our goal of $1.4 million which includes cash received, pledges remaining to be paid this year, and in-kind donations.

More than 419 individuals contributed to the campaign with donations ranging from a high of $118,000 to the $1 bill mailed in by a young girl who wanted to do her part. Fifteen foundations made grants totaling $375,000, and despite the tough economy, 26 local businesses and service organizations donated more than $200,000 to the campaign. Members of Good Cheer’s Board opened their checkbooks and donated more than $367,000, on top of many hours of volunteer labor and consultation.

It was a long campaign, longer than we had anticipated. This was due in part to an unexpected and lasting recession, and the passing of two fine gentlemen: campaign consultant Dick Collins and campaign co-chair Jack Hoover. The bad economy resulted in record-breaking numbers of people seeking food assistance, which posed a bit of a challenge as increased funds for food purchases were needed at the same time. (Client numbers remain high, with more than 800 families a month accessing the Food Bank).

The South Whidbey community proved to be up to this challenge, however, and due to your generosity, the Bayview facility opened in October 2007 during Phase I of the campaign. It houses a regionally recognized model Food Bank for which the entire community can be proud, and is evidence that South Whidbey, indeed, ‘takes care of its own’. Quite frankly, without the new Bayview facility, we could not have met the need – there simply was not enough space at the back of the Langley Thrift Store (the Food Bank’s former home).

After debt on the Bayview facility was paid off in 2009, attention turned to completing Phase II, the renovation of Good Cheer’s flagship funding source, Langley Thrift Store. Though the plans underwent changes in scope, the Langley store now has additional retail space, a new furnace, updated electrical wiring and enhanced firewalls, new interior paint and carpeting, plus a needed back stairwell. An elevator will be installed this autumn, after the busy tourist season.

As anyone who has done a remodel knows, there are always additional tasks which become apparent during the process, which is why, even though the Capital Campaign goal has been reached, we are still accepting donations. If you have been blessed financially, please consider making a donation.

So many people helped with the campaign that space does not permit naming them all, but a special word of thanks goes to Mrs. Marion Henny, Chair of Whidbey Telecom, for serving on the campaign’s ‘kitchen cabinet’ and for hosting an evening fundraiser; to Britt Fletcher and Jim Halfaker for ad hoc assistance; and to Aggie Sweeney and Natalie Lamberjack of The Collins Group, who volunteered time and expertise in honor of their firm’s founder, the late Dick Collins.

Though the campaign is completed, the day to day work of community volunteers continues at the Food Bank, Item Donation/Distribution Center, and the Thrift Stores. We thank you all, and are awed at your dedication to make South Whidbey truly and forever a ‘hunger-free’ community.

Here is a salute to us all!

Good Cheer!

Whidbey Island Bank’s $10,000 Community Challenge

Jun 022011
 
 June 2, 2011  Posted by Mark Clawson No Responses »

Good Cheer’s two thrift stores and Rack clothing boutique are the funding base of the organization. They provide 67% of Good Cheer’s operational revenue. Last year, sales at Good Cheer’s Langley Thrift Store were $354,256 alone. The Langley store, which has been in continuous operations since the mid 1960′s, is in the final stages of a renovation and expansion of its retail space.

The project when completed will add a total of 1,140 square feet of retail space which could produce an additional $71,000 in annual revenues, money that will help fund the operational aspects of the Food Bank.

When the Capital Campaign was originally started Whidbey Island Bank was there to help the community. Bob Olson, Chairman of the Capital Campaign and a member of the Board of Directors at Good Cheer secured the first $25,000 from Whidbey Island Bank to kick off the campaign.

It seems only appropriate that Whidbey Island Bank would be here for us again as we complete the Good Cheer Capital Campaign with their $10,000 matching grant. They have been a great partner helping out last year with another community challenge that allowed us to get through a rough time when food was short at the food bank.

Anne Bobinac and Pam Bickel visiting the new addition as the Langley Good Cheer Thrift Store.

“This community has generously contributed to Good Cheer’s Capital Campaign which provided for the relocation of the Food Bank and which allowed Good Cheer to serve many more families. Good Cheer is so close to completing their capital goal for renovations to increase self-sustainability, that we wanted to help in this final push,” said Whidbey Island Bank Freeland Branch Manager Anne Bobinac.

“Whidbey Island Bank feels very much in partnership with the communities we serve and want to maximize donations by matching contributions made in this final stretch of the campaign. We look forward to this Community Challenge, matching up to $10,000 in donations,” she added.

This challenge follows on the heels of last year’s successful $5,000 community challenge sponsored by Whidbey Island Bank, which raised more than $40,000 for the Food Bank. Good Cheer Board member and Langley Branch Manager Pam Bickel spearheaded that effort, and joins Bobinac in this current community challenge.

Donations are being accepted at all Whidbey Island Bank locations on South Whidbey:

Clinton Branch -  Branch Manager Candy Anderson at 360-341-5238

Good Cheer has for decades has operated differently than other food banks. It conducts itself as an enterprise “company” using community thrift stores as its source of operational funding rather than relying on governmental grants/programs and general fundraising for financial stability.

Good Cheer is a self-sustaining non-profit charity. Our thrift stores recycle a high volume of still usable donated goods while providing low-cost clothing, furniture, and house wares to low income families. A search for other similar programs has not turned up a comparable self-sustaining food bank operation in terms of scale and hours of operation in western Washington.

Freeland Branch – Branch Manager Anne Bobinac at 360-331-5868

This successful and replicable funding approach has caught the interest of other food banks in the Northwest. With the improvement of facilities, Good Cheer will offer information to other organizations interested in this model of client services and operational sustainability. Good Cheer provides an important non-duplicated service to the community, without relying on federal, state or even county tax monies to support it.

Langley Branch – Branch Manager Pam Bickel at 360-221-0203

The success of the Capital Campaign will be measured by the increased number of people served, greater food choices for our clients and innovative programs that educate.

We will work everyday to make South Whidbey Island a hunger free community!

The success of Good Cheer is tied to the community. The participation of individuals, organizations, businesses and foundations at a variety of gift levels has made this a successful campaign.

For information about making a pledge, building naming opportunities, and gifts of stock or property, contact Kathy McLaughlin at Good Cheer at (360) 221-6454, ext. 6.

Good Cheer Capital Fund Drive
PO Box 144
Langley, WA 98260

Good Cheer!

Clinton Foodmart – Customer Appreciation Day May 28th

May 162011
 
 May 16, 2011  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

The Clinton Foodmart is having it’s annual customer appreciation day Saturday the 28th. Here is your chance to own a really big screen television, a 47″ flatscreen.

Raffle tickets are being sold for one dollar and will be on sale until the drawing on Saturday. Proceeds from the raffle sales will go to the Good Cheer Capital Campaign. The food bank has had a strong relationship with the Clinton Foodmart and this benefit is in memory of Mike Sullivan.

Many thanks to Clinton Foodmart owners Clay and Candy Anderson for designating Good Cheer as the beneficiary of its May 28th Customer Appreciation Raffle. The drawing will take place at 1 p.m.  so come in for free coffee and cake (10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Saturday the day of the raffle).

If you don’t win the big prize there are others – You need not be present to win

5 Pizzas from the Village Pizzeria

3 Whidbey Island Logo Shirts

$100 Foodmart Gift Certificate

Here is the Clinton Foodmart Coupon link!

Good Cheer’s Queen of Coupons, volunteer Ula Lewis, welcomes all of your unused food coupons for the Food Bank’s now official Creative Food Buying Program which is designed to maximize savings on food bank purchases by utilizing savvy coupon know-how at area retail grocery stores.

Coupons can have a major impact on local food banks; at Good Cheer 25 to 35% of our food comes from the use of coupons and rebates. Food Bank staff look for those items that are the healthiest for our clients. Saving money through the use of coupons and rebates have affected other parts of the Food Bank’s operation by providing more flexibility in creating greater variety of food choices.

Food coupons expired? No problem. We’ll send them off to military families overseas (via local American Legion Posts 141) who can use them up to a year after their expiration date at U.S. military commissaries. Just drop your coupons off at the food bank or at any Good Cheer Thrift Store.

Good Luck and Good Cheer!

Have You Ever…..

Dec 232010
 
 December 23, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

Dug down deep in your purse or pocket and pulled out loose change, the only money you have until payday, and said to yourself “What can I do with $1.25?”  Then you see it: Macaroni and cheese on sale; four boxes for a $1. “Sure, it’s not the best,” you say to yourself, “but the kids like it, and we may be able to stretch it into multiple meals.”

Have you ever not eaten so your children could have more?

Have you ever skipped a meal so you could use that money to help pay your heating bill?

Have you ever gone to bed, unsure of how to feed your family tomorrow, and tossed half the night because of the anxiety?

South Whidbey Good Cheer has seen more than one economic crisis during our 48-year fight against hunger, but this recession just seems to last and last, pushing more people over the edge into needing help. News that the recession ended months ago makes little difference to those who still face the daily stress of struggling to provide for their families. Try telling the 772 families we are currently serving a month that the recession is over.

At a typical food bank, lines stretch outside the building as people wait to receive their weekly or monthly allotment. You are visually made aware of the need. Good Cheer is a little different: our parking lot is often full, and sometimes our waiting room, but because we are open six days a week, seven hours a day, it is rare to see lines outside our doors. The need, however, is just as real… and at times just as overwhelming.

With the support of our caring and giving community we have created a food bank with expanded hours… a food bank which provides clients with choice, with dignity, and with anonymity.

The Good Cheer team builds and supports programs and systems that are fair, responsive, and accountable to the families they serve. They have created programs that promote health while fighting hunger.

Good Cheer’s Food Bank point system is designed to charge more points for processed food and fewer points for healthy foods.

Good Cheer’s on-site garden produced 5,200 pounds of produce for the Food Bank this year, resulting in more than 7,500 bags of a wide variety of 1-point vegetable items.

Good Cheer Gleeful Gleaners harvested more than 1,900 pounds of apples, pears, plums and Asian pears.

In Good Cheer cooking classes, food bank clients learn from locally renowned chefs how to prepare meals using beets, bok choy, carrots, cucumbers, green onions, kale, leeks, mixed greens, parsley, pumpkins, radishes, spinach, tomatoes, and winter squash ––all items that were harvested from our on-site garden.

As a community we can all be proud of these accomplishments that are vali­dated by facts and statistics. It is much more difficult, however, to put into words what we as staff and volunteers experience daily as we do our work.

Children can be so real and to the point. A note was left on my desk by a child whose family uses the food bank.  “Thank you for being here for us. We would be very very down in money with out you. So we want to HELP you and we will work in the garden! THANKS!”

Touch your heart?

Here is a video that was created by Aly Dehay, a 15 year old student in  Advanced Art class, Coupeville HS. She created this video for an assignment and posted it on YouTube.

Good Cheer was founded because of those who would not stand idly by while their neighbors were in need. Throughout the years Good Cheer has been able to enrich and expand our services because of community support.

Thank you for your compassion. May you have a joyous holiday and a new year full of hope and happiness!

Good Cheer!

Local Grocery Stores – Support for the Good Cheer Food Bank

Apr 172010
 
 April 17, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin 3 Responses »

Payless Foods Steps in to Help Families Hit by Shipyard Closure

I think that this headline says a lot about what Payless means to this community. It was back in November of 2007 when Payless Foods donated $20,000 to the Good Cheer Food Bank. The Nichols Brothers shipyard closure was creating hardships for many when 185 workers were laid off in early November of 2007.

“”When we heard about the Nichols Brothers situation, we knew the food bank was going to be affected,”” said Kim Blain of Payless Foods.

“”We wanted to make sure the entire community had enough food.”  “I am proud of how the people of South Whidbey stick together”,” Blain said. Payless gave Good Cheer a $20,000 store credit. “We buy food monthly from Payless at  cost and that is wonderful.

Nichols Brothers has rebounded from bankruptcy in 2008 after being purchased by Ice Floe, headquartered in Texas. It has obtained a steady flow of contracts to build large tugboats and catamaran ferries, along with refitting and maintenance work. It also is a subcontractor with Todd Pacific Shipyard to build three 64-car ferries for the state of Washington.

“Payless and the Blain family have been longtime supporters of the food bank and donated $25,000 to the Good Cheer Capital Campaign.

“There are so many ways Kim has reached out to the food bank. “They have not only supported us financially, but also by consulting. Kim and her employees have always shared their expertise with us.

Every time a customer brings in their own shopping bags to use at Payless Foods in Freeland, the store donates a nickel to the Good Cheer Food Bank. Customers can also donate the nickel per bag that Payless gives them by telling the cashier. It’s good for Good Cheer and good for the environment. Nickels add up; it should be noted that in 2009 Payless donated $10,834 from their cloth bag incentive and so far in 2010 they have already donated $5,115.60

The Clinton Foodmart

Shortly before his unexpected death, Clinton Foodmart owner Mike O’Sullivan designed a 5% gifting plan on grocery receipts (excluding alcohol and tobacco products) submitted to Good Cheer Food Bank.

This is an incredibly generous program, and we are deeply touched by the gesture. I was fortunate to have given Mike a tour of the food bank several weeks before his passing. He was surprised at the high number of food bank clients, and developed this great donation program as a result.

Mike O’Sullivan is the son of Linda Anderson and the grandson of the late Mildred and Al Anderson, longtime supporters of Good Cheer who had owned “The Big Penny” general store, the building now occupied by Good Cheer’s Langley Thrift Store. Foodmart shoppers may drop off their receipts at the nearby Good Cheer Two Clinton Thrift Store, the adjacent Clothing Rack, or Langley Good Cheer Thrift Store.

Receipts may also be brought directly to Good Cheer Food Bank in Bayview, or mailed to Good Cheer, PO Box 144, Langley, WA 98260.

After monthly receipts are totaled, they will be submitted to Clinton Foodmart Manager Clay Anderson, who will then donate 5% of the total to Good Cheer to help keep the Food Bank’s shelves stocked.

The Goose Community Grocery

Coincidences and how they help people:

This past summer, the Goose Community Grocery donated a five-minute spree to a fundraiser held by the Freeland Chamber of Commerce. The winners, Bayview residents Ed and Chris Halloran, decided to donate their spree to Good Cheer.

“We support Good Cheer and the Goose and thought it would be a fun thing to do, as well as highlight the need that the food bank has this time of year,” said Chris Halloran. “We have food, but there are those that don’t, and this is our chance to help spread the word.”

Community spirit and warm hearts go hand and hand:)

The Star Store

The Star Store has also been a great friend of the food bank. Star Store owners Gene and Tamar Felton included Good Cheer in their 25th Anniversary Celebration last May and presented Good Cheer with a donation. They have also provided support during our food drives; recently helping the Lions with their Lions Day food drive.

We thank everyone who has Good Cheer in their hearts.

Good Cheer!

Good Cheer Food Bank – Capital Fund Drive Revisited

Jan 282010
 
 January 28, 2010  Posted by Kathy McLaughlin No Responses »

The new blog site is enabling us to get information to you on a more frequent basis. Some of you, who are actively involved, will be more aware of the progress and goals that we have set.

Now that Phase One is completed it is time to move on to the next phase.

September 12th was when Laura Price, the former Board President, burned the old loan papers. Now the facility and its improvements are free and clear. Phase One involved the purchase of the former Masonic Lodge and property in Bayview, plus making renovations and constructing the addition of a freezer and refrigerator wing.

The next challenge involves opening up the second floor of The Good Cheer Langley Thrift Store. The thrift stores are the main operational funding source for the food bank. The addition of an elevator to the second floor will allow us establish office spaces, meeting rooms, storage and a place to mark and price merchandise. This will allows us to renovate the main floor and  add more floor space.

The thrift stores are what make The Good Cheer Food Bank truly unique. We don’t have to rely on governmental grants/programs and general fund raising for financial stability.

Many food banks across America are seeing shortages; we are much more stable with the support
that the thrift stores provide.

Also, unlike many other food banks in the state, Good Cheer Food Bank is open at least seven hours a day, six days a week and even provides home delivery to house-bound seniors and the disabled. A search for other similar programs has not turned up a comparable self-sustaining food bank operation in terms of scale and hours of operation in western Washington.

This successful and replicable funding approach has caught the interest of other food banks in the Northwest. With the improvement of facilities, Good Cheer will offer information to other organizations interested in this model of client services and operational sustainability.

People helping people for all the right reasons; pretty wonderful!

The additional square footage could well mean an additional $25,000 a year in revenues. This money will help to fund the operational aspect of the Food Bank. The capital campaign is currently at $1,137,00; 81% towards its $1.4 million goal.

You may ask who we are serving on South Whidbey? In 2007 Good Cheer provided food to 2,780 people. In 2008, this number jumped to 4,044, and in 2009, client numbers were once again up; 5,046 people accessed supplemental food through the Food Bank at least once during the year. In December of 2009, 830 households came to the Food Bank.

Clients include the unemployed, single mothers, seniors, the chronically ill, the physically and mentally disabled, displaced homemakers, homeless teens and families, and increasingly, the working poor.

Due to the high cost of living on South Whidbey, Good Cheer assists many families where either one or both parents are employed, the working poor. According to the U.S. 2000 census, in Freeland alone, about 10% of families and 12% of the population were below the poverty line, including 14.9% of those under age 18 and 6% of those age 65 or over. Many clients only access the Food Bank for a short time while others rely on it year round.

Please help us complete the campaign. Capital Campaign donations can be mailed to Good Cheer Capital Campaign: PO Box 144, Langley, WA 98260.

Here is a link to our Donation Page.

For information about making a pledge, building naming opportunities, and gifts of stock or property, contact Kathy McLaughlin at Good Cheer at (360) 221-6454, ext. 6.