A group of students, led by two sisters, is working in two ways to do good deeds this summer. Along with tutoring, they also are organizing. Etienne Reche-Ley explains via email:

My name is Etienne and I am a rising sophomore at Stanford. This spring, my sister Noemi (she is a rising junior in high school) and I started a free online tutoring program to help WA State public school students from falling through the cracks during the Covid-19 pandemic. We have brought together 150 tutors who are high school and college students at schools around the world (many of them are West Seattle High School grads – Mikki Dysart and Sam Niederberger are part of our leadership team) who speak a total of 10 different languages. We are tutoring more than 70 students consistently.

Our goal is to reach a diverse crowd of students, focusing on those who are suffering most from the pandemic, students of color, low-income students, students who speak a language other than english, and students who face other disadvantages.

Right now, we are hosting a food, baby product, and book drive that will benefit the West Seattle Food Bank. The books will be distributed to local families through drop-off locations and we are encouraging people to donate multicultural books.

Meantime, if you know someone who could benefit from the tutoring offer:

We offer free online tutoring for WA State public school students. Our tutors are high school and college students who speak 10 different languages and who are eager to help. This summer, we are here to help students catch up on schoolwork, spend their free time in a productive way, prepare for a challenging new school year and give parents a break! Click this link to have your student paired with a tutor.

Questions about tutoring, and/or donations for the drive? Email togethertutoringprogram@gmail.com. The project also has a website and Instagram page.

(Natalia, Helena, and Lara Frazier, after filling the new Little Free Pantry for the first time)

The announcement and photo are from Jeana Frazier:

New Little Free Pantry at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church

Please spread the word about one of the newest “little free pantries” in the West Seattle area! Located outside the office at St. John the Baptist Episcopal Church, 3050 California Ave. SW (next to the West Seattle High School parking lot), this pantry is available for all members of the neighborhood to “take what you need or give what you can.” Church attendees will be stocking the pantry on a regular basis, but members of the public are encouraged to donate non-perishable food, personal-care items, paper goods, and so on.

Little free pantries are a no-barrier access point for food. They aren’t intended to replace food banks, but rather to work alongside them, getting food to neighbors who may be skipping a meal. It is our hope that the neighborhood will embrace the little free pantry at St. John’s Church and help to reduce food insecurity (made worse by Covid-19 and the recent economic downturn).

Want to put up a LFP? See this WSB story from last month.

That’s a photo of community generosity as received during one of Alki UCC’s food-and-more drives this spring. If you can give, tomorrow’s your next chance. Here’s the reminder:

Thanks to our community’s generosity, Alki United Church of Christ (Alki UCC) is once again accepting donations outside our building for an In-Person, Socially-Distanced Food Drive at 6115 SW Hinds this Sunday, June 21 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Contributions of non-perishable food and other items will be distributed via the White Center Food Bank; top requests include Canned Meat/Soup/Fruit (pop‐top cans preferred), Rice, Noodles, Peanut Butter, Oats, Toilet Paper, Diapers, Similac Formula, Cleaning Supplies, Hand Sanitizer and Baby Wipes.

The drive benefits our vulnerable neighbors in need, those who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID 19. Check alkiucc.org for updates.

Stopped by Admiral UCC Church a little while ago to check on their outdoor food drive. Still time to stop by if you have any of this to donate: Non-perishable and canned food, pet food and cat litter, baking supplies, seasonings and herbs, bagged fresh produce, or home-grown organic vegetables. Look for the canopy and bin, 4320 SW Hill, until 4 pm. (If you miss today, they have three other Saturday food drives planned this summer, 1-4 pm June 27th, July 11st and 25th.)

The photo and report are from Amanda:

We’ve got a lemonade stand set up on the corner of 62nd and SW Stevens st. In the Alki neighborhood. They are raising money to buy face masks and donate them to people in need at hospitals.

Amanda says they’ll likely be there a few more hours – “until we run out of cups.”

If you can donate food (and/or other staples), you have two opportunities this weekend:

OUTSIDE ADMIRAL CHURCH: Just under way, the first of six food-donation drives outside Admiral UCC Church (4320 SW Hill), 1-4 pm. As previewed here, they’re collecting “non-perishable and canned food, pet food and cat litter, baking supplies, seasonings and herbs, and bagged fresh produce or home-grown organic vegetables.”

OUTSIDE ALKI UCC: Happening tomorrow at 6115 SW Hinds:

Thanks to our community’s continuing generosity, Alki United Church of Christ is once again accepting donations outside our building for an In-Person, Socially-Distanced Food Drive at 6115 SW Hinds this Sunday, May 24 from 10:00 am to 4:00 pm.

Contributions of non-perishable food and other items are distributed via the White Center Food Bank; top requests include Canned Meat/Soup/Fruit (pop‐top cans preferred), Rice, Noodles, Peanut Butter, Oats, Toilet Paper, Diapers, Similac Formula, Cleaning Supplies, Hand Sanitizer, and Baby Wipes.

The drive benefits our vulnerable neighbors in need, those who have been disproportionately impacted by COVID-19. The food drives continue every other Sunday until further notice.

Another way to help people who need food during the COVID-19 economic crunch: A new recurring food drive outside Admiral UCC Church (4320 SW Hill):

Food Drive Saturdays from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm beginning May 23rd. 2020:

There will be a Food Bank barrel to collect food under a canopy at Admiral Church with attendants to assist with the collection of food: non-perishable and canned food, pet food and cat litter, baking supplies, seasonings and herbs, and bagged fresh produce or home-grown organic vegetables.  

The food drives will be from 1:00 pm to 4:00 pm on Saturdays, May 23 and 30, June 13 and 27, July 11 and 25. Your food donations are needed as the number of people needing food has increased greatly due to the pandemic.

Here’s a map.

If not for the pandemic, about 1,000 runners and walkers would be celebrating completion of the annual West Seattle 5K along Alki right about now. It’s a benefit for, and organized by, the West Seattle High School PTSA, which has a reminder for you:

We are missing you all and missing this wonderful community event! Please plan to participate and/or sponsor this event next year. Cancelling this and our other spring fundraiser has left us with a budget shortfall. If you are willing and able to donate to the WSHS PTSA, please make a donation on our website.

We’ve co-sponsored the WS5K every year since the first one in 2009. See you there in May 2021!

(Also published on our partner site White Center Now)

That’s a Little Free Pantry. In the spirit of Little Free Libraries, LFPs are a new neighborhood-based way to help address hunger – which has long existed in all neighborhoods, but is now worsened by the virus-crisis economic crunch. The project started in southeast Seattle and founder Molly Harmon says they are expanding west, looking for hosts:

A small movement has taken hold in SE Seattle and we are spreading the energy to West Seattle, White Center, and Burien – the building and installing of Little Free Pantries (LFP).

This project began with a micro-grant & six Little Free Pantries, and within a month we’ve raised over $3,000 and distributed nearly 44 Little Free Pantries. Little Free Pantries help neighbors feed neighbors. They aren’t intended to replace food security agencies nor eliminate the need to support them; rather they work alongside each other to draw awareness to food insecurity issues and create community through collective action in a neighborhood. We’ve begun working alongside Northwest Harvest & will work to reach out to area food banks, finding ways to utilize each other’s efforts in addressing food security.

The intention is to inform people on food insecurity and bring an issue, which hides in our society, to the surface. Millions of housed Americans are facing food insecurity on a daily basis and with our unemployment rate soaring due to COVID-19, food banks are struggling to access enough food to support those in need. It is imperative to educate the public on this growing need for food and LFPs bring this issue front and center to our neighborhoods, but in a supportive and caring way. Micro-communities form around this pillar (Little Free Pantry) and in turn, connect neighbors who otherwise would not have met. By neighbors stocking their neighborhood Little Free Pantry with non-perishable foods, it keeps the pantry full and helps those needing a meal. Whether a need for food or a need to give, Little Free Pantries help neighbors feed neighbors, nourishing neighborhoods.

We have hit our recent goal of $1150, which will enable us to build 18 pantries. We will distribute these pantries for free throughout Southwest Seattle. This is a grassroots, crowd-sourced solution to address immediate and local needs as a viable way to build community and support those facing food insecurity.

More information can be found at www.thelittlefreepantries.org. Additionally, if you feel a Little Free Pantry would work well in your neighborhood, please apply through the website.

Food insecurity is prevalent, whether you have seen it firsthand or not. And COVID-19 is intensifying the food insecurity that many of our neighbors are vulnerable to. With schools closed and layoffs rampant, many in our community are potentially going to bed hungry A quote from an owner of anewly installed Little Free Pantry in the Seward Park neighborhood, “Since it went up a little over two weeks ago, our LFP (located on Seward Park Ave, between Willow and Brighton) has been used daily, confirming that hunger is often hiding in plain sight, even in neighborhoods you might not think it would exist in.”

Questions? Ask here.

Last Saturday night, the West Seattle Food Bank‘s annual “Instruments of Change” happened online because of COVID-19 … but one thing didn’t change: Major community support. With that video, and this message, WSFB is expressing its gratitude:

Thank you for supporting your neighbors!

We are so grateful to the guests, donors, volunteers, supporters, and sponsors who made Saturday night’s first ever virtual Instruments of Change such an incredible success!

In the midst of so much uncertainty, it warmed our heart to see so many of you join us to help strengthen our community. Together, you raised over $95,000 to stop hunger and homelessness before it starts!

Despite the fact that we could not meet in person, you all really showed up for us and our neighbors. In case you missed the event, you can see some highlights in our short thank you recap video.

Your support for our neighbors and dedication to uplifting our community continues to inspire us. Thank you for showing the power of neighbors helping neighbors!

If you missed the event but would still like to support your neighbors, you can make a gift here.

WSB was one of the event’s community co-sponsors.