Renewal Food Bank has been proud to serve the Crossroads neighborhood of Bellevue, putting smiles on 1,500 community members and bringing them together every week through food. For the past three years, the food bank has been led by Executive Director, Phillip Peters. His passion for food justice started when he lived in the East eight years ago, working for an affordable housing nonprofit. There, he noticed even people who had affordable housing did not often have access to reliable, healthy food due to public transportation and other barriers. Recognizing this, Phillip and his team at an affordable housing nonprofit decided to build farmers' markets in the neighborhoods in the city. That experience led him to realize “the power of food as a way to connect people.” As he explains, “If you want to build community, sit down and actually share food authentically." 

In 2022 when the pandemic hit, the food bank was in a challenging situation due to the nature of the self-selection process. Seeing this as an opportunity, Phillip stepped up to serve as an executive director at Renewal Food Bank. He highlights how he has been actively attending meetings at Rotary clubs, Chambers of Commerce, faith-based organizations, and getting stories of Renewal Food Bank out to the community to recover from a decline since COVID-19. Now, Renewal Food Bank has almost 500 individuals visiting every week. Phillip expresses his appreciation for those visiting families, saying, “A lot of people who come here to shop show up early and volunteer to help us, not just take food.” He recalls how they frequently bring the team home-cooked meals for lunches and dinner while they are working, calling both his team and shoppers “a big family and a good community.”

Renewal Food Bank is open to any family, regardless of their income or background, on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays, allowing them to drop in once a week. They can get whatever they need whether it is vegetables, fish, beans, canned chicken, or even ice cream from Molly Moons as a seasonal offering. Every week, each family takes $150-$250 worth of groceries home, which saves around $1,000 from their budget to spend on other necessary things. Most of the food, Phillip points out, is from donations from individuals, local businesses, and grocery stores like Town and Country, Amazon Fresh, and PCC Community Market. He further elaborates on how the food bank is reflecting the diversity of families. With the expansion of market options, the food bank has received contributions from Asian Family Market and Mayuri Foods.

Phillip acknowledges his team’s effort not simply to provide groceries but to promote human dignity by respecting each family’s diet, religion, and culture. Not only are they given replacements for things they have dietary restrictions against, but they are also given choices of meat, vegetables, and drinks. “If families don’t take raw meat because they don't have an oven, they can take more deli, like sandwiches, for example,” Phillip explains. Additionally, multilingual volunteers who speak additional languages, such as Spanish, Ukrainian, and Russian, help mitigate the language barrier that immigrant families often experience.

What sets Renewal Food Bank apart from other food banks is that nearly all of the food comes from community donations, and most of the work is done by volunteers. He shares how high school students who needed to complete their community service hours for their school joined the food bank and kept volunteering for the rest of their high school years. He says those hardworking volunteers help the food bank to effectively use donations they receive toward families in need rather than for paying employees. This allows the food bank to feed more individuals so that individuals can spend their money on housing, children’s education, and other necessities other than groceries.

While the food bank receives donations and support from local grocery stores, Microsoft, and faith-based organizations, Phillip adds that there are always some empty shelves, and the food bank needs increased community engagement. Regarding community involvement, he outlines three pillars he asks the community members to volunteer for: volunteer at the food bank, host a food drive, or contribute financially. He encourages anyone to reach out to the food bank and host a drive or make donations for it to help the team restock. 

For the upcoming year, Phillip and his team are strategizing new ways to reach more community members, especially immigrants and communities of color who may feel vulnerable and isolated. 

“Every day is my favorite day,” he smiles, taking in fresh vegetables arriving, canned foods being organized into shelves, fruits being distributed to families, and the conversation being sparked over the counter. He is grateful that he can be part of keeping families together, letting them know they are always welcome in the food bank, or even bridging them to the next step of their lives. 

To learn more, visit the Renewal Food Bank website and listen to the August 19th episode of the podcast, From Passion to Purpose.