A Conversation with Ballard Food Bank Board Member Carrie Schneider

Carrie Schneider joined Ballard Food Bank six years ago as a Board Member and volunteer. Communications Manager Ruth Mohapatra sat down with Carrie to talk about her journey from the East Coast to the Pacific Northwest. Read on to learn about Carrie’s compassion, service and meaningful interactions at the food bank.

Responses have been edited for clarity.

Q: Carrie, thanks for taking the time to talk to me! Could you tell me more about yourself and how you came to live in Ballard?

A: I grew up on the East Coast, in Maryland, and I came out here to go to college. I went to the University of Washington. I was on an athletic scholarship because I swam. So that's what brought me all the way out here. And then randomly in conjunction, my family moved to Idaho when I started college. So, there was a little bit of that connection as well. I have been out here since ’93, I've been here for the most part. My husband and I then briefly moved to Michigan and then England while he was in graduate school. But that was a two-year sort of stint. We've lived on Queen Anne and Ballard, and now we're on Phinney Ridge - same North Seattle General area.

Currently, I work part time for the University of Washington. I'm an admissions counselor for their MBA program at the Foster School of Business. Really that just means I've had a variety of roles over the years. They've been great in terms of flexibility for working parents. But really what I do now is I interview and review applications and make decisions on those. And then I also spend a lot of time working with prospective students, just sort of helping them understand like, is that a good thing for them? I do that part time and I do that part time in large part because my husband used to travel a ton for work and then he left and started his own company and now he's traveling a lot for work. So basically, somebody needed to be home once we started having kids.

I figured out early on that I wasn't going to be able to work full time, and I actually didn't mind that because it gives you a lot of flexibility. But I also wanted something to do, to feel like I was being impactful and using like the part of your brain that you don't use when you're a parent. And so, I just started out getting involved, like in the kids’ school and asking them, what would be helpful for them. Where could I pitch in and be of use? And that is what brought me to the food bank. My kids went to West Woodland and Ballard Food Bank started the Weekend Food for Kids program, and I helped out with that. That was how I got introduced to the food bank.

Q: Thanks Carrie! You answered a bit of my second question – about how you got involved with the food bank. However, I want to dig a little deeper and ask you how you got to know about the food bank?

A: Sure! Two things happened at the same time. I had a friend who worked with a program called the Backpack Brigade. It was a similar type of program where they brought in food for kids to take home on the weekend - and it was in a backpack. She was doing that in South Seattle somewhere, and I was like, oh, that's interesting. I feel like we should have something like that at our school.

I think sometimes there's a lot of need that people don't always see. Especially, when you're going to a school where people might appear as though they don't have a lot of need, it's sometimes hard to ask for need because you don't want to be the person that has stand out from the rest.

Then, we got a new principal who was really focused on meeting the needs of those children and really working hard on making sure that everybody had what they need to be successful in school. To that end I was sort of trying to figure out if West Woodland could use that kind of program and if they could, how could we how could we help? And I also I also really wanted to try and get the kids involved somehow. And then we found out about the Weekend Food For Kids through Ballard Food Bank - and I think that was just through the school counselor. And since you guys do such a great job, there wasn't really a lot of need to pack backpacks or do any of that kind of thing. Then, I thought okay, well, we're working with the food bank, what can we do to support the food bank?  So, we did something of a hygiene drive - so we collected like hats and hand warmers and those types of things. For this we got the kids together, in the library one night and packed it all up and the food bank came and picked it up. And while I was doing that, I found out that there was a board member who I knew whose kids went to West Woodland. Since she was moving to North Carolina, she introduced me to Jen, and that was how I got involved.

Q: Lovely! You also volunteer here. When did you start volunteering?

A: I started volunteering and serving on the board at the same time. It’s probably been six years. Because I really wanted to see what it was like as a volunteer. I really like being a board member, but you're not here necessarily. You have to make a concerted effort to be here and see what happens in the building.

Q: So, when you first started volunteering, did you do other volunteer roles before deciding on the front desk?

A: At the time the person working with volunteers – I think her name was Lindsey – asked me if I wanted to work at the front desk and I said yes, so I did that.  

But back at the blue building, the space was a lot smaller than it is here. And so oftentimes I found that, I would be just of standing around. So, I would go and help with no cook. That was back when they had a separate no cook section. And then I did home delivery during the pandemic. And I was able to bring my kids to do that, which was great. And then I have worked in not a ton, but I have worked in the warehouse. There's been times when, again, not so much here, but back at the blue building where I would show up and I was like, “it's okay, just tell me like what you need.” And they'd be like, “okay, we need is for people to, like, pack dog food” or whatever it was. And I did that. I have worked mostly at the front desk, but, dabbled in other things as well.

Q: That is fantastic! This also means that while working the front desk you are having a lot of guest interactions. Can you tell me a little bit about that? And if you have like any memorable client interactions that stood out to you or any stories that you might have?

A: I really like working at the front desk. I like getting to interact with the clients. They're great. One thing that I also really like is I think sometimes there can be some misconceptions about like who we serve and what type of people come in. So, I love saying that, “they are people like you and me who just need some extra help” or I've met a lot of people who are trying to choose where to spend their money. They know that you can come here and get your groceries, which is huge.

Yes, there are definitely people who are down and out and who are unhoused. But the other thing that I love about working at the front desk is that people are generally like really kind and looking out for the people around them. And they're also actually helpful. Like again, especially back in the blue building where there wasn't this much space sometimes the volunteers would or the clients would step up and they'd be like, “they called number 15 and everybody be quiet.” I really appreciated that very much.

I work on Mondays and generally people tend to shop on the same day of the week. So, there are some people who you get to know, and you get to recognize a little bit more. There was one gentleman, I remember who came up to me and said that he was not going to be coming in for the next month. And I asked him why and he said because he was going to Iran. He told me because I've saved enough money by coming to the food bank that I get to go and see my mom. And I haven't seen my mom in 15 years. That that's like one really memorable interaction for me. Also, I think it was a smart way to use like this resource.

I also really like it when clients come in and they've never been in before and you could tell they're sort of nervous, and they don't know what to do. And I explain the process of how to get the food, but I also tell them, oh you can go to the Kindness Cafe and then, oh, you need help getting a new phone. You can go here. And the clients are always so surprised.

The other thing I like is just the volunteers at the front desk. They've been there a long time and they totally know what they're doing and they're great. What’s special is that each of them has their own sort of special relationships with clients. I come in for like 2 to 3 hours once a week, but many of these people are coming in like two days a week working full shifts. And they like really know people and they really care about them. And you can see that those people trust them and that is nice to see.

Q: Thank you for such thoughtful answers! The last thing I want to ask you is what your favorite vegetable and how do you like to cook it?

A: Probably broccoli. I found this recipe online where you roast it. First, you chop it fairly thin, and then you put it on a sheet pan with like olive oil, garlic, lemon zest and chili flakes. Toss it all up, and then you roast it. You want to sort of get it brown and almost burned. And then when it comes out, you put lemon juice on top of it. So that's probably my favorite vegetable, but and then in the summer, it's tomatoes and I'll take them like any which way I can get them!