White Center Now: The blog about White Center

As posted on CL: White Center Jubilee Days needs “a new logo and an artist to create it.” Interested? gmc_tile@comcast.net; here’s the website from this past summer’s event.

We’ve also written about this on West Seattle Blog, but White Center businesses and others may also be interested in helping a school that’s about to move to WC — West Seattle Montessori. They’ve lost their longtime WS home because of a development project, and they’re renovating a building next to the King County Library’s White Center branch, in hopes they’ll be ready to move in during the winter break. First, they’ve got a fundraising auction coming up December 5th, and they’re looking for donations for the auction as well as some help for the move – here’s what Sandra Kutz-Russell told us:

As for the auction, we need anything and everything; we are grateful for each item we are given! We will have both a silent auction and live auction. Keep in mind that we are a little auction with big dreams! At other auctions I have attended, trips, condo weekends, behind the scenes tours, chef taught cooking classes, signed books, CDs and sports equipment are always top sellers. Dinners are popular and services too! Because our auction is so close to the many winter holidays, Hanukkah, Christmas, Kwanzaa and Eid Al-Adha related items would be well received. Anything handmade seems to sell very well!

We are a school in need of help, help with our auction, help with the move, help with new playground equipment and rubber playground surface. Heck, the fence alone cost $11,000! Can we ask for a donation of printing services or truck rentals and boxes? What about a moving company or even plants for the landscaping? We do need a tree moved! It is a Japanese cherry tree that was planted in memory of a 1st grader’s mother who passed away of cancer. That little girl started college this year!

I can be contacted by e-mail, or by calling the school at 206 935-0427 and leaving a message for anyone on the auction committee, Brenda, Renee and Sandra.

You can e-mail Sandra at: skutzrussell@yahoo.com

Usually the White Center/South Delridge Community Safety Coalition meets toward the end of the month, but not this time – we’ve just received a reminder that the next meeting, last one of the year, will be on December 11th, different location too — SW Boys and Girls Club, 9800 8th SW (map), 6-8 pm.

On December 2nd Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound are hosting Big Night Out, a fundraiser for the orginization taking place at area retailers, restaurants, bars, and bowling alleys. Full Tilt will be hosting an event that night for Big Brothers Big Sisters, but in the meantime they are looking for some local help.

Lamonte’ needs a big brother. If you can help, please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound today at 877-700-BIGS or www.bbbsps.org.

“I want a Big Brother to hang out with, have fun, and learn how to play sports with.”

– 7 year old Lamonté

Lamonté is an outgoing, energetic 7 year old who lives in White Center with his mom. Because he does not have any siblings or a father figure in his life, Lamonté’s mom is looking to find a good role model for her son through Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound. Lamonté loves sports, and he says that he is looking forward to learning how to play sports and going to sports games with his Big Brother. Lamonté is also interested in animals, computers, art, and music. When he signed up to become a Little Brother, Lamonté said, “I want to see how it feels to have a Big Brother.” Lamonté’s mom says that she knows it’s hard for her son to grow up without a dad or siblings, and she wants someone in his life that he can look up in addition to her. If you have a few hours on the weekends to hang out, play catch, or go to the zoo with a local child like Lamonté, please contact Big Brothers Big Sisters of Puget Sound today at 877-700-BIGS or www.bbbsps.org.

Cafe Rozella is participating in the food drive for the White Center Food Bank.  Given current economic conditions, the food bank is experiencing a great demand for its services.  So next time you come by Cafe Rozella, pack some cans of food and drop them in the donation barrel at the cafe.  For your kind donation the cafe will give you a free pastry with your coffee order.  So do the right thing and get a nice reward.  Cafe Rozella is located at 9434 Delridge Way SW (phone 206.763.5805 – web:  www.caferozella.com).

Click pic to play video

(video of potato-unloading, added 2:28 pm – more to come)
The truck was a bit late so it happened more like noon than the originally predicted 11 am. Even two and a half tons of potatoes will go fast – so your help for the White Center Food Bank is still needed – online donations are great; make ’em here. ADDED 4:50 PM: 11th District Rep. Bob Hasegawa was a big part of making this happen, and he was there for the arrival – he talked with us and the regional TV crews who were there:

This just in from Grace Church (10323 28th SW):

“A huge thank you to our neighbors in West Seattle and White Center! Last Saturday, November 15, Food Drives were held at the Jefferson Square and Roxbury Safeway stores and generous Safeway shoppers donated more than 65 boxes of food, over $1200 in cash and gift cards, and 102 turkeys for both the White Center and West Seattle Food Banks. And many thanks to Dave and Curt, the Safeway managers who welcomed us and assisted in set-up of the Food Drives.

UPDATE: We got word from Grace that the turkey total actually turned out to be 189!

Tomorrow morning, the White Center Food Bank gets a very special delivery at a time when it’s desperately needed: More than two tons of potatoes from Hirai Farms in Moses Lake will be delivered directly to WCFB, before another 15 tons are trucked over to a Kent warehouse that serves many other food banks in the area. Here are more details from a news release sent out by local legislators and shared by WCFB’s Rick Jump:

“Those in our community who are struggling to feed themselves and their families will get a break thanks to this generous donation. While these are hard times for everybody, the fact that the potatoes will be delivered just a week before Thanksgiving, makes it even more special,” said Rep. Bob Hasegawa (D-Seattle, 11th Legislative District), who was the liaison between the farm on the eastside and the food bank in western Washington. “It all began this summer when I was part of a business tour and Blaine Hirai and I got to talking about doing something to help folks in need on this side of the mountains.”

Blaine Hirai, a Washington State farmer who is active in several charitable causes and organizations, has done significant work to address issues involving the educational, nutritional and housing needs of minority and disadvantaged communities in Washington State. He has become a strong advocate of helping to provide the necessary elements and opportunities to those who have been deprived or have been placed in unfortunate circumstances.

“In today’s economic climate, it is getting increasingly difficult for many people to feed their families. When Rep. Bob Hasegawa told me that the White Center Food Bank needed food, I felt that as a farmer it was important I do something to help. I am happy to work with our state legislators to make this critical donation of potatoes,” said Hirai, whose strong family tradition of giving back to local communities in the Pacific Northwest is made possible through Hirai Farms and their non-profit charitable organization, Annie’s Fun.

“During these challenging economic times, more and more families in my district are turning to food banks to make ends meet. Meanwhile, it is harder for working families to make the charitable contributions to worthy organizations like the White Center Food Bank and Northwest Harvest,” said Rep. Sharon Nelson (D-West Seattle, 34th Legislative District). “I am extremely pleased that Hirai Farms has chosen to help meet this huge need in our community.”

Rick Jump, White Center Food Bank Executive Director said that in just one year there has been a 70 percent increase in the number of families they serve, “so this will make a huge impact in the community; a donation of this magnitude makes a serious difference and we’re very grateful.”

The White Center Food Bank’s mission is to minimize hunger while nourishing community, nurturing self-reliance and embracing the area’s rich cultural diversity. It has been helping out people in need for over three decades and currently serves more than 1,200 hungry families each month. In 2007, it provided enough food for more than 53,000 individuals including 21,000 children under the age of 18.

Northwest Harvest is Washington’s own statewide hunger relief agency. It secures 18 million pounds of nutritious food each year for distribution to nearly 300 food programs across the state, serving 36 of Washington State’s 39 counties.

You can help the White Center Food Bank any time with an online donation – follow the links on its website at whitecenterfoodbank.org.

What you see above is just part of the haul that the West Seattle chapter of CoolMom.org has collected for its first-ever Toy Swap and Sale, happening Saturday at the Camp Long Lodge in WS (map) — proceeds benefit White Center-based WestSide Baby as well as the West Seattle Food Bank and CoolMom (whose organizers say, “We have gotten some great items – bikes, trikes, and push toys; puzzles & games; barbies; baby gear, music, art, and other developmental activities; lots of brand names and much much more!”). The “swap” aspect of this involves donations of toys made over the past few weeks (each donor got a $5 sale credit for each bag of toys); tomorrow, it’s all about the sale, 9 am-1 pm. (By the way, you can help WestSide Baby any time with an online $ donation — right from this page.) Here’s where you’re going, courtesy of Google Street View:

They’ve been planning it for months, and tonight’s the big night: The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council‘s fundraising dinner for the art project at Steve Cox Memorial Park. When we last checked in with NHUAC’s Heidi Johnson, just a few tickets are left, so we are hopeful the dinner will be a smash hit, and the project will be on its way to completion.

First posted at partner site West Seattle Blog. They need diapers AND people-power.

Click pic to play video

That video shows harpist Mary Frank as she played to welcome guests to Saturday night’s White Center Food Bank Harvest Dinner and Auction. WCFB executive director Rick Jump says the final tally was 200 guests and more than $40,000 raised, and he wants to “thank all the White Center and West Seattle businesses who donated so generously to make this possible.” Among the sponsors, BECU, whose Claudia Martinez and John Webb were there as we made the round with our camera:

We also caught up with Steve Fisher from the King County Housing Authority (photo left) in the early going at the gala event at South Seattle Community College’s Brockey Center. Guests perused, and bid on, silent-auction items before the Harvest Dinner — among the more unusual ones, an authentic fire hydrant. Meantime, regardless of whether you made it to the benefit on Saturday night, there are myriad ways you can give to the White Center Food Bank right now, including the purchase of a beautiful glass apple from Avalon Glassworks in West Seattle (half the $80 purchase price goes to WCFB) – we’ve told you about it before, and Rick tells WCN they’re still available. You can also donate $ online by going here.

Checking with Audrey at White Center Food Bank, we found out (also posted at partner site WSB) that reservations for this Saturday’s annual Harvest Dinner and Auction for WCFB need to be in by 5 pm today so they can get the catering order in. The Saturday event starts with the silent auction @ 5:30 pm, SSCC’s Brockey Center. Full details here; $60/person, 206/762-2848, or rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org. (A week later, on 10/25, it’s the White Center Community Development Association five-year-anniversary gala – details and ticket info are on the WCCDA site.)

Another reminder, 5 days till the White Center Food Bank‘s annual Harvest Dinner and Auction this Saturday @ SSCC – but don’t wait to make a reservation – call or e-mail now. 206/762-2848, rick@whitecenterfoodbank.org – see the full invitation here!

Longfellow Creek, which stretches almost all the way to White Center, has some amazing natural areas along the way – and the volunteer forest steward for Delridge Natural Area, Mike Arizona, asked us to invite White Center Now readers to join him in restoration work tomorrow. We posted a story with photos and video on our partner site WSB; you can see it here (including information on where to goand how to help, tomorrow).

Click pic to play vid

We first told you here at White Center Now (Monday report here) and at partner site West Seattle Blog (Monday report here) two days ago about an urgent call for help from the White Center Food Bank. Executive director Rick Jump says thanks to WCN/WSB readers for stepping up – hundreds of dollars in donated $, plus food donations, have come in as a result, and citywide media have come by to do reports – but much more help is still needed. While we visited Jump at WCFB earlier this afternoon for a followup, he gave us the newest statistics — the number of people seeking help from WCFB this September was 50% greater than last year, almost 1,000 in ’07, almost 1,500 in ’08. And as commenters pointed out on both sites, WCFB has a unique challenge – since it is not within the boundaries of a city, it doesn’t get any kind of city funding, as do its fellow food banks in incorporated areas. You can help WCFB right now by donating $ online, right from this page. While we were at the food bank this afternoon, a steady stream of people came in – Rick explained, it’s the first of the month, and food stamps are still days away; we didn’t photograph the clients because we believe they’re entitled to dignity as they seek help, but trust us (and listen to the sound as we shot the video you see above), the volunteers were working hard to distribute what they had. P.S. One more way you can help – the WCFB annual fundraising auction/dinner is coming up October 18th, 5:30 pm at South Seattle Community College’s Brockey Center; this event raises up to half the WCFB’s annual budget funds – check out the invitation here and RSVP by October 10th (read more in this previous WCN post).

We mentioned last week that the date is set for the fundraiser for the Steve Cox Memorial. Here’s the official announcement with details from Heidi at NHUAC:

Steve Cox Memorial Art Project Dinner & Auction

Please join us as we reach for our goal to have an artist create a memorial
for Steve Cox that will be installed at Steve Cox Memorial Park in White
Center.

“A fitting tribute to a man that made a difference“

The North Highline Unincorporated Area Council Invites You To A Benefit
Dinner & Auction For The
Steve Cox Memorial Art Project

November 14, 2008 – 6:00 p.m.

St. Bernadette’s Parish School Hall
on 128th and Ambaum Blvd. S.W.

Catering by: Galliano’s.

Oral & Silent Auction
Auctioneer: Deputy Roy Galusha

Tickets are a donation of $40.00 per seat and are tax deductible

To RSVP
Please send check or money order payable to: 4culture by November 3rd, 2008 to:
NHUAC P.O. Box 66900 Burien, WA 98166

4culture is the fiscal sponsor for NHUAC
Credit cards not accepted

To learn more about 4culture, visit www.4culture.org

For additional information please contact Barb Peters at 206-242-0934 or Heidi Johnson at _hjohnson@northhighlineuac.org

WestSide Baby, which is headquartered in White Center and helps families here as well as West Seattle and environs, just put out an urgent call for newborn-size diapers – those shelves are bare! WestSide Baby collects diapers at its headquarters (10032 15th SW) as well as several other West Seattle locations and even one in Burien; full list is here.