What could make a beautiful fall evening better than a chance to rekindle connections, meet new folks, and celebrate the growth and resilience of our organization?

Are you ready to feed community and plant the seeds of justice? We need you now more than ever.

GiveBIG is May 5th & 6th (with extended donations until 5/15), and you have the opportunity to join thousands of your neighbors in supporting the local organizations that cultivate sustainable social change in the Seattle area.

#25daysofgratitude post is dedicated to the restaurants that make our annual Chow Down fundraiser possible. Each summer restaurants and bars in Columbia City and Hillman City provide quick, tasty bites for food adoring participants. Folks are able to partake in this delicious culinary adventure by purchasing a passport that is stamped at each location in exchange for an iconic bite. These passport sales directly benefit Rainier Valley Food Bank and highlight the unique and vibrant culinary culture of South Seattle.

While many in our region now enjoy the fruits of economic recovery, there remain many thousands for whom things have only changed for the worse. In fact, area food banks are serving more people now than they did at the peak of the recession. Rainier Valley Food Bank (RVFB) now serves more than twice the number of families they fed in 2009, and saw a staggering 32% increase in demand in 2014 alone.

A classroom of kindergartners at Hawthorne Elementary School totally melted our hearts on Valentine’s Day. In just over a month, they collected more than $350 that will help us buy lots of fresh produce for our hungry neighbors. (Check out our Facebook photo galleries of Room 2’s coin-counting party and our Valentine’s Day visit.) Way to go, kids! And thanks to their awesome teacher, Katie Kribbs, for helping us pull it off.

Rainier Valley Food Bank first opened its doors as “Northwest Community Services” on May 1st, 1991. Since our humble beginnings as an all volunteer-run grassroots food pantry serving 50 to 100 households a month, we have come a loooong way, baby!