It has come to our attention that one of the volunteers who worked at one of our recent Free Grocery Store events has tested positive for Covid-19. This particular volunteer did not come into direct contact with any of our patrons and while on site they used the recommended COVID safety measures.
Although there has been minimal patron or volunteer potential exposure, we are opting to address this issue with serious concern.
To this end, we will not be conducting Monday’s Free Grocery Store on November 16th. We will take this time to review and further strengthen the necessary steps to assure everyone’s health and safety in continued accordance with the recommended guidelines put forth by the CDC, state, and local government authorities.
It is our goal to resume our Free Grocery Store events on Monday November 23rd.
Here is an abbreviated list of local resources for free food this coming week:
DRIVE THRU FRESH MARKET
November 17, 2020 11am to 12pm
Rainier Beach High School
8815 Seward Park Ave S
Seattle, WA 98118
SALVATION ARMY COMMUNITY CENTER
Monday-Thursday at 5:30pm
720 S Tobin St, Renton, WA 98057
ST. STEPHEN the MARTYR
Food Bank hours
Mondays 10am – 11:45am
Wednesdays 4pm -5:45pm
Fridays 10am – 11:45am
13055 SE 192nd St., Renton, WA 98058
For a comprehensive list please go here:
https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/wa-renton
https://www.freefood.org/c/wa-renton
https://renton.salvationarmy.org/renton_corps/renton-food-bank/
We are so sorry for the inconvenience or any hardship this may cause.
Stay Strong and Safe.
sustainablerenton.org 
I’d like to make a monetary donation—are you still collecting money for your refrigerator truck? Where do I send the money?
Peggy, 5 months later, I am confident you figured this out by now but, if not let me know and I can help. Thank you for your support. Lara
My family is so grateful to all the volunteers and pray for your safety. I had a suggestion to reduce the time it takes to serve each family as well as cut down on exposure.
Instead of posting multiple volunteers to each table, could you take the personal shopper approach? Each family can make a list of items they need, such as sliced bread, Meat x3, carrot cake, etc.
The personal shoppers can move ahead of the car while the family is given the pre-packaged foods. Then the family can move ahead to see the additional foods available for the week and their personal shopper can add to their vehicle.
This reduces the interaction between families and volunteers. Currently one infected family could potentially infect at least 10 volunteers and each volunteer has contact with many more families.
It also allows one individual to better understand the words coming from behind a mask. 😷 This benefit alone could speed up the process. Limiting each interaction reduces the possibility of transmission, not to mention getting the volunteers home sooner.
Just a thought. Please know that I have felt very protected and your volunteers are cautious. With changing circumstances and better understanding comes adjustments. All is well🙌