SEQUIM — Miss Wheelchair Washington, Julie Broadwell, is calling on the public to continue offering donations even though the holiday season has concluded.
Broadwell, a Sequim resident who was born without arms and legs, was crowned 2015 Ms. Wheelchair Washington on March 3.
She is using her reign, which ends next month, to rally the community behind a food drive to benefit the Sequim Food Bank, a nonprofit organization.
Broadwell, 51, has partnered with Adagio Bean & Leaf, 981 E. Washington St., to collect non-perishable food items throughout January that will be dropped off at the food bank in early February.
She will be at the coffee shop from 3:30 p.m. to
5 p.m. today to greet the public and to encourage donations.
Broadwell picked January for a donation month “because it is after the holidays and I heard that the food banks are very empty from January through May,” she said Tuesday.
That is because people might suffer from donation fatigue after giving so much during the holiday season, she said.
“Everybody is done,” Broadwell said. “They are burned out.”
The food bank offers services to anyone living within the Sequim School District boundaries. Individuals and families can visit and receive a food basket twice a month for as long as they need.
The Sequim Food Bank relies on donations of food and money from the community to keep its doors open and the food flowing to those in greatest need.
Increasing demand
As with other food banks in Clallam County, the Sequim Food Bank continues to see an increase in the number of visitors seeking food each year, Stephen Rosales, Sequim Food Bank board president, said Wednesday.
The number of visitors “did increase about 8 percent from the year before,” he said.
“We have seen a lot of new people.”
In 2015, the food bank served an average of “250 to 300 families a week,” Rosales said.
And those numbers do not diminish after the holidays, he said.
Because the need continues, Broadwell encourages the community to dig a little deeper to ensure the food insecure have plenty to eat this winter.
Donations can be dropped off at Adagio Bean & Leaf at any time this month during regular business hours.
The coffee shop is open every day from 6 a.m. to 6 p.m., and will accept “any kind of nonperishable food items,” barista Anna McGuire said Wednesday.
“We actually have a cart right inside the lobby here with a big Sequim Food Bank sign on it.”
A few cans of soup have already been donated, but McGuire hopes to see a lot more in the coming weeks, she said.
“We are really trying to push it. As much as we possibly get is our goal.”
For more information, call 360-582-0024.
Annual lull
The Sequim Food Bank participated in several holiday food drives, but gave away much of what was received at the same time, Rosales said.
“We handed out so much food that we are going to start hitting a lull in the next couple of months,” he said.
“We did 1,700 turkeys for Christmas and Thanksgiving total and that is including everything [that goes] with it — milk, eggs, stuffing, bread, pumpkin pie, cranberry sauce, green beans, yams.”
Items most needed are peanut butter, rice, mac and cheese, tuna fish and canned foods — “stuff we actually have to purchase,” Rosales said.
While such non-perishable items can be dropped off at Adagio Bean & Leaf, perishable items such as meat, bread, milk and eggs will be accepted only at the food bank, 144 W. Alder St.
The food bank accepts donations between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m. Mondays through Fridays, and from 8 a.m. to noon on Saturdays, Rosales said.
For more information, call 360-683-1205 or visit sequimfoodbank.org.
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Reporter Chris McDaniel can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 5074, or cmcdaniel@peninsuladailynews.com.
