White Center Now: The blog about White Center

Just in – your official invitation to the White Center Food Bank‘s grand-opening party:

Join White Center Food Bank (WCFB) for one of the most significant miles in our organization’s history: The GRAND OPENING of our new home! With the support of our community, we now own a newly remodeled, centrally located facility right in the heart of downtown White Center.

The Grand Opening Party features delicious food & drinks from White Center restaurants Gõ Seattle Grab & Go & El Catrín, amazing speakers, and great music.

This celebratory event not only introduces the community to the expansive features of the new space but also serves as an opportunity for everyone to come together and celebrate this remarkable achievement for the White Center community.

Date: Friday, Jan 12
Time: 5-7PM
Event Location: White Center Food Bank, 10016 16th Ave SW

This new facility will bring together an incredible array of community programming, hosted both by the food bank and partner organizations. WCFB wants people from all walks of life to enter through our doors together, so that everyone feels comfortable receiving food whenever they need it.

“We’re excited for this next chapter to better serve the community and revitalize this part of the neighborhood. We hope that our supporters will continue to show up alongside us to ensure our community thrives.”- Carmen Smith, Executive Director.

To RSVP and learn more, click here.

(Also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

The White Center Food Bank is moving into its new home, and sent these photos to show off its new mural:

The mural’s lead artists are Jake Prendez (of Nepantla Cultural Arts Gallery) and Rafa Diaz; community members assisted. WCFB spokesperson Randy Nguyen says, “We’re so excited to be in our new spot. Our expected date of opening to the public is January 8th.” They’re also planning a grand-opening party for January 12. The building at 10016 16th SW has been undergoing renovations since last March; they had to move from their longtime county-owned location at 8th/108th because it’s being redeveloped. You can read more about the new WCFB site here.

Just announced by the White Center Food Bank, and you’re invited!

Join White Center Food Bank (WCFB) for an exciting Capital Campaign Fundraiser, with exclusive tours of our new facility prior to the event! This special celebration features delicious food from White Center restaurants, amazing speakers, great music, a silent auction and more. With just over 60% of our $8 million goal raised, we need our community of supporters to help us move to our new home.

Speakers include Senator Joe Nguyen, our Executive Director Carmen Smith, and a WCFB customer. The event will be MC’d by the inspiring community advocate and food bank partner, Kimnang Seng. Delightful music from master Brazilian singer, Adriana Giordano will create a celebratory ambiance for this special event. Each ticket includes appetizers provided by Sap Sap Lao Cafe and Patrick’s Cafe and Bakery, plus a drink ticket.
Tours of the new food bank from 2:30-4pm and the event is 4-6pm. Shuttles will be provided by KC Metro to and from the event space and the new food bank.

Date: Saturday, Oct 21
Time: 2:30-6pm (tours of new food bank from 2:30-4 pm, fundraising event from 4-6 pm)
Event Location: White Center Eagles, 10452 15th Ave SW
New Food Bank Location: 10016 16th Ave SW

This new facility will bring together an incredible array of community programing, hosted both by the food bank and partner organizations. WCFB wants people from all walks of life to enter through our doors together, so that everyone feels comfortable receiving food whenever they need it.

“We’re excited for this next chapter to better serve the community and revitalize this part of the neighborhood. We hope that our supporters will continue to show up alongside us to ensure our community thrives.”- Carmen Smith, Executive Director.
To purchase tickets and learn more, click here!

(A version of this story was also published on partner site West Seattle Blog)

It’s a street party in downtown White Center today, with 16th SW closed to vehicles between Roxbury and SW 100th for the Taste of White Center, benefiting the White Center Food Bank. 32 restaurants and bars are offering $5 “tastes” – some savory, some sweet, like the three cream puffs from Puffy Pandy:

Here’s how it works – find one of the WCFB booths along 16th, and buy $5 tickets, redeemable at the participants of your choice.

You’ll get the map/list with the locations/names of the participating restaurants and bars and what they’re offering. Some non-downtown WC businesses have set up booths on 16th so they can be part of it too, like Dubsea Coffee (strawberry lemonade):

The food spans a variety of cuisines – Mexican, Vietnamese, Chinese, Laotian, Salvadorean, American, and vegetarian/vegan options – Lotus Vegetarian Restaurant‘s booth (fried rice, Singapore noodles, egg roll) among them:

Almost all the venues are offering their tastes until 4 pm. A few have later starts – Tomo, offering strawberry/basil kakigori for dessert, is listed as “1 pm until sold out.” Participating venues we haven’t already mentioned are: Taqueria la Fondita, Best Roasted Corn, Que Chévere, Salvadorean Bakery, Rosticeria el Paisaano, Los Potrillos 4, Taqueria la Quebrada, El Catrin, Li’l Woody’s, Proletariat Pizza, Zeeks Pizza, Pho Thu Thuy, Sap Sap Lao Café, Bok a Bok, The Roll Pod, Lumberyard, Lariat Bar, Tim’s Tavern, Moonshot Coffee, Future Primitive, Full Tilt, Patrick’s Café and Bakery, Nacho Mama, Young’s, Meat the Live Butcher, Can Bar, and Mac’s Triangle Pub. Wherever you get your food, tents are set up at multiple spots with tables and chairs. A DJ’s spinning, too.

One week from tomorrow, you’re invited to enjoy the Taste of White Center, benefiting the WC Food Bank. Here’s the announcement:

The White Center Food Bank is excited to bring together our neighborhood’s wide variety of restaurants for a family-friendly event and fundraiser. With 34 restaurants participating, attendees purchase $5 tickets to try a variety of foods like banh mi sandwiches, Colombian empanadas, Indian fry bread tacos, strawberry basil kakigori, and much more. Iconic restaurants like Tomo, Puffy Pandy, Salvadorean Bakery, El Catrín and others are ready to serve up amazing bites!

Each ticket is an opportunity to taste a small plate, drink or dessert from participating restaurants. All ticket proceeds support the White Center Food Bank, while sponsorship dollars go to the restaurants to purchase ingredients and pay for event costs.

Tickets will be available for purchase at three locations in downtown White Center in the area of (16th Ave SW, between Roxbury and 100th St). A ‘menu’ will be given to each attendee at the time of ticket purchase, with a map and details on restaurants and items available. This is a first come, first served event, with limited quantities available at each establishment. There will also be a raffle for 2 roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines.

White Center Food Bank looks forward to hosting this celebration and sharing the diverse culinary talents of our neighborhood around the one thing that always brings community together: FOOD!

Following up on the construction wall sighting Friday, the promised banner is now in place, letting passersby know it’s the future home of the White Center Food Bank, and showing a rendering of what it’ll look like. Thanks to Randy Nguyen at WCFB for the photo!

The White Center Food Bank has announced a milestone in its journey to a new headquarters: Construction is beginning at the site (10016 16th SW; map), six months after the location was revealed. WCFB spokesperson Jefferson Rose says a construction wall went up today, and explanatory banners are expected to go up on Monday. The WCFB has to move from its longtime home at 8th/108th because a new building, to include affordable housing and a community “hub,” is going up at that site. At the new site, Rose says they’ve already done some demolition, and what starts now includes “mostly interior work to build out the grocery store, offices, and lobby area” as well as getting the warehouse space ready to use. All that is expected to take about six months. You can read more about the new WCFB headquarters – and donate to the project and/or the WCFB’s plan for a new site for its giving garden – by going here.

A multi-location food drive to benefit the White Center Food Bank has just days to go, and organizers at White Center Pride hope you’ll donate – or donate again! Here’s the reminder we received today, including the list of dropoff locations:

We are just a little over a week away from wrapping up our winter food drive for the White Center Food Bank. As of mid-February we had collected over 600 lbs. of shelf-stable food. We are hoping to push that number up to 1000 lbs by the time we finish the drive.

Here’s the direct link to the needs-list info mentioned at the bottom of the graphic.

Looking for an easy way to expand your holiday giving? Here it is!

We’re just a few hours away from the day every holiday season that nonprofits hope you’ll use to focus on giving to the organizations that nourish, cherish, support, and uplift your community. First one we’ve heard from is White Center Food Bank, which is not only continuing to carry on with its daily work of keeping people fed, but also working toward the move to its new headquarters. Here’s the WCFB announcement:

On Tuesday, November 29, the White Center Food Bank joins #GivingTuesday, a one-day global giving event dedicated to assisting non-profit organizations.

With the support of our generous donors, volunteers, and individuals of the community, WCFB provides healthy, culturally familiar food for our neighbors. Many of those within the White Center community face difficult economic conditions, leaving families and individuals in need of food resources. With the start of this holiday season, White Center Food Bank wants to extend a hand and inspire others to do the same. WCFB provides food security for our customers and their loved ones during these warm, festive times. By collaborating in this movement, you can support the WCFB and give back to your community. Let’s all participate in #GivingTuesday and continue to #KeeptheCommunityFed.

Link to donate:
whitecenterfoodbank.networkforgood.com/projects/173679-end-of-year-2022

Back on Sunday, we covered the party thrown by the White Center Food Bank to say farewell to their soon-to-be-ex-location (8th SW/SW 108th). Sometime early next year, they’ll have to vacate as that property is being redeveloped into affordable housing and a “community hub.” We’ve reported previously on the WCFB’s search for a new site, and the search is finally over – today the WCFB officially announced the new location as they continue rolling out the capital campaign to get it ready:

After years of searching for their new home, White Center Food Bank (WCFB) purchased a building in the heart of downtown White Center (10016-10024 16th Ave SW). This location will provide ample space for WCFB to grow and is centrally located along several major bus lines. However, substantial renovations and other upgrades are necessary to make the food bank’s new home welcoming and hospitable to everyone.

To raise the 6 million dollars necessary for this project, on September 25 WCFB launched their capital campaign with a group of customers, donors, staff, and board celebrating together. “This is a community effort and we know that by bringing our neighbors together, we can find a way to keep our community fed,” says WCFB Development and Communications Director, Jefferson Rose.

White Center Food Bank is looking beyond the old models of service and working to develop new ways to nourish the community with equity, accessibility, and dignity as their guiding principles. The new White Center Food Bank will be more than just a place where people can get food. It will be a welcoming community hub located directly in the heart of the changing and growing downtown White Center.

This new facility will bring together an incredible array of community programming, hosted both by the food bank and partner organizations. WCFB wants people from all walks of life to enter through our doors together, so that everyone feels comfortable receiving food whenever they need it.

“We’re excited for this next chapter to better serve the community and revitalize this part of the neighborhood. We hope that our supporters will continue to show up alongside us to ensure our community thrives,” says Carmen Smith, Executive Director.

To learn more, check out an informational video, renderings, and more here.

The garden at the White Center Food Bank‘s longtime location (8th/108th) got a shout-out today as the WCFB threw a party to say goodbye to the site – even though they don’t expect to have to leave until early next year (they wanted to have the outdoor celebration before fall weather arrived, we’re told). The party also amplified the WCFB capital campaign to raise money for their new headquarters:

Those renderings were on display to show what the WCFB hopes to do in its new downtown White Center location. So far it’s raised a third of its $6 million goal. Getting the rest of the way there will be a community effort – and community was at the heart of today’s celebration:

Young artists laid the groundwork for a new mural. And performances underscored the many facets of White Center:

Dancers from the Khmer Amarak Dance Troupe were to perform a Blessing Dance. Meantime, guests at the celebration enjoyed food from banh mi to tacos:

After all, WCFB’s Jefferson Rose said cheerily from the stage, “we’re about food.” And they’re hoping the new headquarters will keep the community fed for decades to come.

As mentioned last week, the county’s Participatory Budgeting vote is on right now – you have today and tomorrow to vote online and help decide how to spend $3+ million. One of the contenders is the White Center Food Bank, which says it has found a new location in downtown WC (but isn’t saying exactly where yet).The WCFB needs money “to renovate and transform our space into an innovative food bank for all who need it.” You can vote here.=

The booth on the northwest corner of 16th/98th is one of three places you can buy $5 tickets for the Taste of White Center, benefiting the White Center Food Bank – each ticket gets you one of the special menu items that 31 establishments are offering – here’s the list:

Participants are all flying red balloons:

The Taste of White Center is on until 4 pm, but take note that some venues have slightly different participation hours – for example, Tomo has a sign saying it’ll open at 2 pm (it’s offering smoked sable fish congee), and Good Day Donuts is participating until 2 (their menu item is listed as “surprise”). The other two ticket booths are outside Mac’s Triangle Pub at 16th/Delridge/Roxbury and outside Patrick’s Café and Bakery at 15th/100th. Along with the $5 taste tickets, you also can buy tickets for a drawing that’s also benefiting WCFB – two round-trip Alaska Airlines tickets. Alaska is one of the sponsors whose support is enabling compensation for the venues so that all the ticket proceeds can benefit the food bank.

This just might be the tastiest fundraiser of the year.

Announced by the White Center Food Bank:

SAVE THE DATE:
TASTE OF WHITE CENTER, PRESENTED BY WHITE CENTER FOOD BANK, JUNE 25, 11 AM-4 PM

The White Center Food Bank is excited to bring together our neighborhood’s wide variety of restaurants for a family-friendly event and fundraiser. With over 25 restaurants participating, attendees purchase $5 tickets to try a variety of foods from roasted corn, banh mi sandwiches and gyoza dumplings to specialty ice cream, bubble tea and shaved ice. Iconic restaurants like Tomo, La Fondita, Good Day Donuts and more are ready to serve up amazing bites!

Each ticket is an opportunity to taste something from each establishment and all ticket proceeds go to support the White Center Food Bank. Sponsorship dollars from Alaska Airlines, King County Metro, Nucor Steel and others go to the participating restaurants to purchase ingredients and pay for promotion of the event.

Tickets will be available for purchase at three locations in downtown White Center (Patrick’s Café and Bakery, Mac’s Triangle Pub, and on the corner of 16th Ave SW and 98th St). A restaurant passport will be given to each attendee at the time of purchase with a map and details on which restaurants are participating and the menu items available. There will also be a raffle for 2 roundtrip tickets on Alaska Airlines.

White Center food Bank looks forward to hosting people from across the region around the one thing we know always brings together community: FOOD!

See the current list of participants by going here.

The White Center Food Bank needs your help, if you can donate food. Here’s the announcement we received:

We are running low on the following items and need our community to help fill the shelves:

Soup (pop top)
Broth
Peanut Butter
Rice
Sugar (in a box)
Condiments (BBQ, mustard, mayo)
Oil
Flour
Coffee & Tea
Soy Sauce
Mac and Cheese
Ramen Noodles
Salt
Black Pepper

Donation hours at the food bank are 8 am-3:30 pm M-F, 10829 8th Ave SW.

Please get in touch with a staff member when you arrive and they can help load in.

If those hours or location are not convenient, we have donation barrels located at:

– BECU in Roxbury Safeway
– Moonshot Coffee
– Good Day Donuts
– Future Primitive Beer
– White Center and Fauntleroy Starbucks locations

The White Center Food Bank has a new executive director, though she’s not new to the WCFB. Here’s the announcement we received this morning:

The White Center Food Bank Board of Directors has announced Carmen Smith as the new Executive Director of the organization.

Carmen joined us in February 2017 as Community Outreach Manager where she worked her way up through organization development and community engagement division before moving into an Associate Executive Director and then Interim Executive Director for the last several months. Carmen comes to us with a robust background in food equity. From her experience working with international hunger relief organizations to grassroots nonprofits in food justice, she knows that relationships are the most vital part of any organization. Carmen has her Master’s in Public Administration from the Maxwell School. As the Executive Director, she brings this understanding to nurture invaluable partnerships for the White Center Food Bank. The WCFB is amidst several projects, including finding a new location, Carmen’s leadership in this important work has already proven invaluable.

“On behalf of the Board of Directors, please join us in welcoming Carmen to her new role as the Executive Director. Her passion and dedication to the work at hand is obvious and inspiring.” said Gabbi Gonzales, White Center Food Bank Board President.

(Photo from whitecenterfoodbank.org)