White Center Now: The blog about White Center

The first of several stories we’ll be publishing from Thursday night’s White Center Community Safety Coalition meeting: You’re invited to a meeting next Thursday to talk about the new playground that’s on its way to Steve Cox Memorial Park. King County replaces play equipment every decade or so, it was explained, and this one’s due – plus, besides being safer, the new equipment apparently will have less tag-attracting surfaces. The meeting’s at 6 pm Thursday 6/4 in the community center rec room at the park. (Right before the North Highline Unincorporated Area Council meeting just a few miles away, it was also noted; the art project for Cox Park is expected to come up at the NHUAC meeting.)

From Sarah at WestSide Baby:

Grab a friend and join WestSide Baby tomorrow, May 21st,from 7-9pm, for our monthly “After Hours” sorting frenzy. Enjoy an evening of sorting donations, socializing and making a difference in the community!

Please RSVP to Sarah@westsidebaby.org if you know you will be able to attend. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult and it is especially important for us to know if minors are coming so we can prepare appropriate jobs for them.

We also have an ongoing need for larger size diapers (Sizes 4-6) and Pull-ups (Sizes 3t and 4t).

WestSide Baby is at 10032 15th Ave. SW in White Center.

The Nature Consortium is working to restore the West Duwamish Greenbelt.  As part of their efforts, they are clearing Ivy, which is an invasive species that chokes and kills native vegetation.  This Thursday is the Nature Consortium’s second official foray (first Thursday!) into the Greenbelt to start tackling the Ivy.  Per, organizer Kathleen Dowd-Gailey, “We made great progress on the Saturday event two weeks ago and cleared almost an acre of ivy and made 12 ivy rings on some great big trees! Good stuff!  Since this will be a separate event, not piggybacking on a regularly scheduled Nature Consortium event, I need to know for sure how many people will be able to make it. Please RSVP to me by Wednesday at noon so I can confirm with Nature Consortium staff. I will send out directions to those who can make it after I get your RSVP.”

Contact Kathleen at:  kdowdgailey@gmail.com

Even if you didn’t make the registration deadline, you can still show up tomorrow and pitch in.

There’s the big cleanup next Saturday – the legislative town hall – and this too:

Join us for a walking audit of White Center!

As a part of the White Center Spring Clean, Feet First will take a walk with members of the community to explore the neighborhood and look at it through different eyes.

The Walking Audit will help residents identify:

* What do you like about your neighborhood.
* What are some areas of concern.
* Ideas and recommendations for changes.

When: Saturday, May 16th, 10am-12pm

Where: 1615 SW Cambridge Street [map]

For more information or to register to take part in the walk, contact Feet First by e-mailing: info@feetfirst.info or calling 652-2310.

This walking audit has been coordinated by the White Center and will be led by Feet First. Feet First is a non-profit organization promoting walkable communities.

The information from the White Center Walking Audit will be compiled and presented by Feet First in a formal report to the King County Food & Fitness Initiative as a part of the plan being developed for a Kellogg Foundation grant.

Tomorrow (Saturday 5/9) is the day – get a bag of nonperishable food items together and put it by your mailbox, your door, wherever your letter carrier delivers your mail, for the annual Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive. Local food banks including the White Center Food Bank benefit – and ultimately, it’s for your neighbors in need. What other donation drive comes RIGHT TO YOUR DOOR?

Heard from Debra with the White Center Heights Elementary PTO, who wanted to share this information:

We are having family night spaghetti dinner and dessert auction fundraiser on May 15th. The cost is $3 for adults and $2 for children, we will have the dessert auction going on during the dinner, also there will be some entertainment from one of our students.

We have White Center Heights’ annual carnival on June 13th from 11:30 til 4 pm. Bring your family and friends, there will be lots of games, prizes, food, our famous cake walk, and raffle. So come and have fun.

From the Rainbow Girls‘ local chapter:

West Seattle #18 International Order of the Rainbow for Girls is holding a Car Wash fundraiser this Saturday, the 2nd of May from 8:00 – 2:00 at the Albertsons in White Center – 10616 16th Ave. S.W.. Proceeds will benefit the Worthy Advisor’s service project The Alzheimer’s Foundation and the cost of the members’ annual convention this summer in Yakima. The price of the car wash is on a donation basis. Interested in what Rainbow can do for your daughter? Check us out at www.gorainbow.org. Rainbow gets girls ready for life! Contact Jan Hunter at 206-849-7906 for more information.

Reminder from the White Center Food Bank:

FIRST STUDENT “DRIVE AWAY HUNGER” FOOD DRIVE FOR WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK

First Student drivers and school buses will be collecting non-perishable foods and diapers for the White Center Food Bank on Saturday, April 25, 2009 from 10:30 am to 3:30 p.m. at the following stores:

Burien Albertsons (12725 1st Avenue S)
QFC Westwood Village (2500 SW Barton Street)
White Center Albertsons (10616 16th Avenue SW)

The White Center Food Bank says the most needed foods are Hamburger Helper and Rice-a-Roni type products as well as canned meat (not tuna), canned fruit, cereal, and jelly. The White Center Food Bank serves a diverse ethnic population so ethnic foods are always welcome. The food bank also accepts $5 and $10 gift cards from Safeway, QFC or Albertsons. Cash donations can be sent to the White Center Food Bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To donate on-line go to www.whitecenterfoodbank.org.

The White Center Food Bank has been providing emergency food relief in this community for over thirty years. In the past two years food insecurity has grown. The rising cost of housing, food, and health care, cutbacks in federal funding for housing and food assistance, and the loss of manufacturing jobs leave many working families short of food. Stories about the rising costs of food and hunger are in the press almost daily. The White Center Food Bank continues to provide much needed emergency food relief while promoting efforts to fight poverty.

Last year a record 17,000 families were served and almost 900,000 pounds of food was distributed worth about $1.5 million dollars. This was done with two paid staff and over 200 volunteers including members of Kiwanis White Center, 34th District Democrats, Fauntleroy UCC and Evergreen Key Club. 1,700 families a month are being served.

And there’s one week left to go in the Feinstein Challenge – which makes your donations worth even more than face value. If you can’t donate in person, donate online at the food bank’s website.

From the Rat City Rollergirls‘ “Deadly Aim,” who we profiled recently at partner site West Seattle Blog (see the story here):

Just wanted to give you a heads up … RCRG will be in White Center Saturday from 11-2 for some street cleaning. The 2 mile stretch of SW 16th was adopted 5 years ago, and twice a year ever since we’ve headed down to give it some sprucing and have some fun.

After the cleanup, she adds, there’s an afterparty at Big Al’s.

Got this note from Julie – we’re thinking WCNers will be interested as well as some West Seattleites:

As you may know, many of the communities in “southern” West Seattle look out over 3 Tree Point and the communities of Arroyo, Seola Beach and Arbor Heights enjoy our fireworks show. Last year, quite a few families from these neighborhoods contributed funds toward our entirely not-for-profit and volunteer effort (although the barge based fireworks are presented by professionals, thank goodness!). We are enormously grateful for that support. This year we have new chairs and have launched a new website www.3TreePoint.org

Their fundraising drive runs throughout May – check out the website for more details.

Just in from WestSide Baby, which is headquartered in White Center but helps families in West Seattle and surrounding areas too:

WestSide Baby is opening on Thursday, April 16th from 7-9, for our monthly “After Hours” sorting frenzy. Grab a friend and join us for an evening of sorting donations, socializing and making a difference in the community.

It is very helpful for us to know if you are coming though so we can prepare with staff and projects. Please RSVP to Sarah@westsidebaby.org. Children under 14 must be accompanied by an adult and it is especially important for us to know if minors are coming so we can prepare appropriate jobs for them.

We also have an ongoing need for larger size diapers (Sizes 4-6) and Pull-ups (Sizes 3t and 4t).

Audrey from White Center Food Bank says last night’s food drive brought in more than 250 pounds! You can donate $ to WCFB online any time through the website, whitecenterfoodbank.org.

(photo added 6:21 pm – Barbara Connor from Rainier Valley Kiwanis, at the donation station)
Till 8 pm tonight, Kiwanis Division 26 volunteers are at the White Center Food Bank, collecting donations. As mentioned before, food-bank donations count for extra through the end of this month because of a special nationwide partial-match program – so if you take food/money to them now, it’s worth even more than face value. Here’s a map to WCFB.

Now it’s just two days away, so it’s reminder time – this Wednesday night, local Kiwanians will be at the White Center Food Bank to collect your donations:

Members of the Division 26 Kiwanis in Seattle would like to invite you to bring non-perishable foods to the White Center Food Bank on Wednesday evening, April 8, 2009 from 5:30 to 8:00 pm. Members of the Kiwanis will be stationed outside the food bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW [map] under a canopy to collect your donations.

Kiwanis International is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time.

The White Center Food Bank says the most needed foods are Hamburger Helper and Rice-a-Roni type products as well as canned meat (not tuna), canned fruit, cereal, and jelly. The White Center Food Bank serves a diverse ethnic population so ethnic foods are always welcome. The food bank also accepts $5 and $10 gift cards from Safeway, QFC or Albertsons. Cash donations can be sent to the White Center Food Bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To donate online, go to www.whitecenterfoodbank.org.

Donations to food banks count extra through the end of this month because of the Feinstein Challenge, so everything you give includes a built-in bonus. See you Wednesday night!

From Ian at White Center Community Development Association – an invitation to help plan a big springtime event:

Community Partners and Friends! The White Center Community Development Association (White Center CDA) is gearing up for its Sixth Annual Spring Clean. This event brings the White Center and Boulevard Park communities together for one day to clean, plant, paint and connect with their neighbors/family/friends/businesses/non-profit organizations/etc. We would like to invite you to our first meeting, so please bring your energy and ideas to the table. Please forward this to anyone who is interested in being a partner and/or volunteer.

White Center CDA Spring Clean Meeting
Tuesday, March 31 – Noon to 2:00pm
YWCA Meeting Room at Greenbridge (9720 8th Ave. SW)

Tentative agenda Items:

-Introductions

-Identifying Partners and their resources

-Brainstorm ideas

-Q&A

-Committee Sign-ups

-Marketing and Promotion

-Flyers and T-shirts

-Art/Mural opportunities

The actual Spring Clean event will be on Saturday, May 16. Mark your calendars and save the date.

From just north of White Center, Hope Kerkof sends word that Shorewood Christian School‘s auction is almost here:

Mark your calendars! This Saturday, March 28th at 5 pm, you won’t want to miss the Shorewood Christian School’s annual auction. The theme of this year’s dinner-auction, “Come aboard Our Cruise Ship,” docks at Shorewood Foursquare Sanctuary at 5 pm. This is a fun filled evening of buffet dining, with a silent and live auction benefiting Shorewood Christian School. The proceeds from the auction this year goes to Shorewood Christian’s high-school-expansion efforts. Boarding passes are $25.00 each. For tickets or more information, call Shorewood Christian at 206-933-1056 or visit the website at www.ShorewoodChristianSchool.org

Just got this from executive director Nancy Woodland at White Center-based WestSide Baby:

WestSide Baby is hosting a 3rd Thursday After Hours Sorting Frenzy

Join us between 7 and 9 to organize and sort toys, clothes, bottles and more. Open to ages 8+ but ages 8 to 14 must be accompanied by a volunteering adult.

WestSide Baby is at 10032 15th SW; here’s a map.

Just announced:

Members of the Division 26 Kiwanis in Seattle would like to invite you to bring non-perishable foods to the White Center Food Bank on Wednesday evening April 8, 2009 from 5:30 to 8:00 p.m. Members of the Kiwanis will be stationed outside the food bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW under a canopy to collect your donations.

Kiwanis International is a global organization of volunteers dedicated to changing the world one child and one community at a time

The White Center Food Bank says the most needed foods are Hamburger Helper and Rice-a-Roni type products as well as canned meat (not tuna), canned fruit, cereal, and jelly. The White Center Food Bank serves a diverse ethnic population so ethnic foods are always welcome. The food bank also accepts $5 and $10 gift cards from Safeway, QFC or Albertsons. Cash donations can be sent to the White Center Food Bank at 10829 8th Avenue SW, Seattle, WA 98146. To donate on-line go to www.whitecenterfoodbank.org.

The White Center Food Bank has been providing emergency food relief in this community for over thirty years. In the past two years food insecurity has grown. The rising cost of housing, food, and health care, cutbacks in federal funding for housing and food assistance, and the loss of manufacturing jobs leave many working families short of food. Stories about the rising costs of food and hunger are in the press almost daily. The White Center Food Bank continues to provide much needed emergency food relief while promoting efforts to fight poverty.

Last year a record 17,000 families were served and almost 900,000 pounds of food was distributed worth about $1.5 million dollars. This was done with two paid staff and over 200 volunteers including members of Kiwanis White Center, 34th District Democrats, Fauntleroy UCC and Evergreen Key Club. 1,700 families a month are being served.