About Us
Food Bank History
February 14th, 2012 marks our 10th anniversary. Gifts from the Heart food bank opened on Valentine's Day, 2002. The food bank was started by a small group of people who felt there was a need for a food bank serving Central Whidbey Island. We originally started operating from a small space provided to us at Greenbank Farm. After three years of operation, we knew there was a need and, also, that our community and businesses would continuously support a food bank. In November of 2005, we moved into the old fire hall at 203 North Main, our current location. We store and prepare the food here and also distribute to our Coupeville clients. We also distribute at the Greenbank Progressive Hall at the corner of Bakken and Firehouse Road, behind the Greenbank Store.
Client Demographics
In 2011, 31% of the clients we served were infants to school-age children; that's a lot of hungry kids going to school every day. Our largest client group are age 19 to 54. Many of these clients are working but don't make a living wage and need the little extra help the food bank provides. Meanwhile, 24% of our clients are age 55 or older. 84% of our clients are served in Coupeville, and 16% are served in Greenbank.
Where Does Our Food Come From?
- Community Donations
- Food Drives
- Northwest Harvest
- Food Bought Through Cash Donations
Volunteers
We are a completely volunteer-run food bank; we have no paid employees. We have a Board of Directors and 41 volunteers doing various jobs. Some of these jobs include putting away food collected from food drives, bagging food for our clients, distributing food, picking up weekly donations, driving to NW Harvest, and volunteering for special events. Working at the food bank does not require a large time commitment, but it is very fulfilling work. Our volunteers worked 3,052 hours in 2011.
To become a volunteer, please call 678-8312.
2011 Accomplishments
- We gave food to 2,775 households.
- We gave food to 7,807 people.
- We gave away over 3,790 bags of food.
- We gave away over 151,600 items of food.
- We gave food to 173 families at Thanksgiving.
- We gave food to 158 families at Christmas.
- We served 15% more households in 2011 than in 2010.
- We served 11% more indeviduals in 2011 than in 2010.
- We served, on average, 2.81 people per family in 2011.
- 84% of our clients pick up in Coupevile, 16% in Greenbank.
- 4% of our clients are age 0-2.
- 27% of our clients are age 3-18.
- 45% of our clients are age 19-54.
- 24% of our clients are age 55 and older.
- We served 6% more households in 2010 than in 2009.
- The Farmers Market Relay Races raised $10,000!
- Our Grocery Cart Drill Team performed in the Memorial Day and Christmas parades.
- We have a new volunteer Webmaster.
Thank you for your support!
Green Philosophy
Gifts from the Heart tries to be green in all our dealings. The environment is importatnt to us, especially on this beautiful island. Actions that all our volunteers adhere to include:
- Reuse all materials whenever possible
- Recycle everything that we cannot reuse ourselves.
- Compost all leftover food that is not fit for consumption.
- Distribute food to our clients in reusable red bags that are returned to us and refilled.
