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.