Jefferson County Food Bank Association
Project: FEEDING OUR NEIGHBORS
Request: $15,000
The Jefferson County Food Bank Association provides food with dignity, respect and care to anyone in the community who needs it, every week of the year. With about 300 volunteers, JCFBA currently serves approximately 850 households each week through three brick-and-mortar locations: Tri-Area, Brinnon and Port Townsend, and four recurring pop-up sites in Quilcene, Coyle, and in partnership with Nourishing Beloved Community/JCIRA and Reach Out.
In the first half of 2026, JCFBA recorded over 40,000 client pickups from more than 2,600 unique individuals. According to Feeding America, 24.9% of children in Jefferson County are food insecure.
Why cash matters when food is donated
JCFBA has already recorded $1.3 million in donated food this year, and last year in-kind contributions totaled around $2 million. So why ask for money?
Because donated food is unpredictable. Cash allows JCFBA to fill the gaps; the staples, the protein, the fresh produce that isn't showing up in donations. Cash also pays for the people, vehicles, refrigeration, facilities and insurance that make a warehouse full of donated food into groceries in someone's hands. Without operating cash, JCFBA cannot make efficient use of the nearly $2 million worth of donated food and labor the community provides.
The barriers JCFBA is actively dismantling
Getting the right food. Last year JCFBA moved away from pre-loaded bags and boxes to a shopping experience where people select what they actually want and will use. Dignity and less waste, at once.
Getting nutritious food. JCFBA is increasing purchases from local farmers. In July 2026 it piloted a program with the Farmers Market Association to buy whatever produce farms have left to sell at the end of each market day.
Getting there at all. Public transit is limited even in denser areas, with long waits, multiple transfers and long walks at each end. Carrying groceries home under those conditions is extremely difficult for families, seniors and people with disabilities. And clients who do have a vehicle face rising fuel and maintenance costs that force hard decisions about how far they can drive for essential services.
Getting there on time. Standard food bank hours conflict with work schedules and childcare.
The answer to the last two is mobility. JCFBA is building capacity to deliver food to more pop-up pantries at more hours, located near where people live, work, or send their kids to school. It has begun converting its gas and diesel fleet to electric — two vehicles so far — and developed wheeled equipment allowing food to be loaded directly from the main warehouse into the pop-up network.
Here are the problems you can help solve
Demand keeps rising. The current political climate has reduced both the volume and the quality of government food donations, while food, fuel and general living costs increase. More people are relying on the food bank to stretch their dollars across the necessities.
JCFBA projects about 45,000 client pickups in the first half of 2027, up from 41,335 in the same period of 2026.
Your donation is the flexible cash underneath all of it.
