One day every year in May, Sammamish churches come together to help the organizations that serve others in our community on a daily basis. There are many opportunities for ALL ages. Find the one that you and your family are interested in.

Volunteer

PLCC provides monetary support and invites you to donate your time and friendship in support of Eastside Friends of Seniors.

Volunteer

Pine Lake Covenant Church supports the Issaquah Food Bank year-round.

Don’t let your neighbors go hungry tonight

Pick up a bright orange bag and take with you as you do your own grocery shopping. Fill the bag and bring your donations to the cabinet located downstairs in the PLCC main building lobby area. Make sure you take your bag back and reuse.

Immediate Needs:

• Canned Tuna or Salmon
• Canned Stew (no beans)
• Canned Soups

The Food Bank ALWAYS needs the following items:

Cereal	Canned Vegetables	Oatmeal	Pinto Beans
Flour	Rice	Sugar	Mayonnaise
Pasta	Mustard	Coffee	Cooking Oil
Tea	Detergent	Peanut Butter	Dishwasher Soap
Jam / Jellies	Diapers	Chili	Baby Food / Formula

Other opportunities to serve

• Groceries to Go: Home delivery of groceries for citizens who are home-bound and have transportation challenges.Serves about 30+ households. We are looking for volunteer drivers, food packers, organizers and individuals in need of services.
• Lunch for the Break: A new service that focuses on getting food to children during the week long breaks from school. Each box of food costs about $50.
• Summer Lunch Program: Provides and average of 200 bags of kid-friendly foods each of the 10 weeks of summer. Each bag includes a week’s worth of breakfast, lunch, and snacks.
• Tools for Schools: 1,000+ backpacks, filled with school supplies each year. This event includes a huge back-to-school festival with dental screenings, haircuts, resources, free lunch and library services.
• Holiday Gift Barn: Supports 650+ families and 1300 children in ensuring a joyful holiday season. Parents can pick out gifts for their kids. A huge community involvement with schools, service groups, churches, businesses, and families all helping.
• Volunteer Program: 100-150 people for collecting food, sort and organize food, distribute food, events and special programs.

Request Information

LifeWire (formerly Eastside Domestic Violence Program) provides services to women and children who have experienced physical, emotional or sexual abuse.

Old cell phones are sent to the 911 Cell Phone Bank and are either returned to LifeWire for the families they serve as emergency “911 Phones” or recycled and the proceeds donated to LifeWire.

Every third Sunday of each month, volunteers from Pine Lake Covenant Church lead chapel service for seniors at Spiritwood Assisted Living just down the road.

Tent City 4 is an encampment of up to 100 homeless adults that live as a community on various grounds around the Eastside for periods of 90 days at a time. The community consists of homeless or formerly homeless individuals and offers an extraordinary opportunity for residents to get off the streets and live in a community that offers safety, a sense of fellowship and community, and some of the basic necessities such as food and sanitation, including showers. Tent City 4 was started in 2004 and is in part supported by SHARE/WHEEL. This organization works with Tent City 4 to secure locations to live, and their budget contribution covers some basic costs such as sanitation, refuse pick up, and bus pass allocation as many of the residents need access to transportation for jobs and services.

Tent City 4 needs your help! The generosity of our community is essential for the 100 residents of Tent City 4 to work themselves out of homelessness and into being contributing members of society.

1. Bring them a meal.  Find an open date on this calendar and then send an email to Mandi at tc4meals@gmail.com requesting that time. She’ll confirm your request.
2. Donate other food supplies. Coffee, tea, cream, sugar, canned & packaged items can be delivered to the camp at any time.
3. Donate non-food supplies. We are in need for tents, tarps, flashlights and AAA-batteries, can be dropped off directly at camp any time.

Please don’t show up unannounced with meals. If you have any questions, please email Kathi at Kathi.Rowley@mqp.org

What’s involved in serving a meal to TC4 residents?

• A fully prepared dinner every evening is our goal. The residents like all sorts of food and a balanced meal is perfect.  Additional focus should be to have plenty of protein. The camp is limited to 100 residents but is sometimes less.  Planning on 100 is a safe plan.
• Bring your meal hot and ready to serve as we will be serving outdoors and will not have access to the kitchen or dining hall.
• Some of the TC4 residents have dental and gum issues, so nuts and raw vegetables are not easy for them to eat. Cooked vegetables and green salads are always welcome.
• Please bring disposable plates, cups, napkins and cutlery. Bring serving utensils and don’t forget to take them home with you.
• Milk and juice are good choices for drinks. Usually 3 gallons of each is sufficient. The camp has coffee available 24/7.
• Serving time is at 6 p.m. nightly.  On Thursdays there is an all-camp meeting at 7 p.m., so it is particularly important to serve dinner promptly that night.
• Groups of all sizes are welcome to serve. If only one person is bringing all the food, there will be plenty of TC4 residents that are willing to help.
• You are encouraged to join the residents for dinner. We want you to be seen as partners with the residents as they work toward getting back on their feet.
• Several days before you are scheduled to serve a meal you may contact the camp at 206-618-3901 to get specific resident counts, though using 100 is safe. Plan for every resident, your group and a few extras.  This may be the only hot meal the residents will have so plan on generous portion sizes. If there are leftovers they will not go to waste.
• TC4 residents will help with set up and clean up.
• Some residents may miss dinner due to work or other scheduling conflicts. Please bring containers for leftovers, such as Ziploc bags, takeout containers, or disposable foil pans.
• Encourage your group to also do a pantry raid or collect some  of the Camp supplies to drop off when they serve the meal.  Works great for those who cannot attend.
• If you are running late, cannot find the church, or have a last minute question, please call the TC4 camp at 206-618-3901.

The Sophia Way’s mission is to help end homelessness for adult women in King County by providing shelter, life skills training, social services and supportive permanent housing, offering a path from homelessness to stable independent living.

Volunteer