Creativity in Community: Brews for Food

Right now, we need more food than ever before! As an organization dedicated to food access, we often need to get creative to meet the growing need. With more and more food distributed each year, we have diversified our food sources: gleaning produce at local farms, recovering food from neighboring grocery stores, and bulk purchasing food for our Kindness Cafe and Community Market with generously donated dollars. Food drives organized by neighbors like you also make a great impact. We love to see the creative ways our community members come together to keep our shelves full and our neighbors fed.

Ryan and Connie are two community members who created an innovative food drive model. Last year, they tried out a new hobby of making homemade brews. At the start, they ran into an issue. It was too hard to make a small batch of beer at a time. The couple also realized they don't particularly drink that much of it. With this abundance of beer, they turned their issue into an opportunity to connect with friends and family. Their gracious solution was to trade their homemade brews for food and hygiene products to donate to Ballard Food Bank.

Food and hygiene donations stacked in Ryan and Connie's living room.

We are incredibly proud to be in community with people who share our belief that food is a human right. Ryan and Connie chose Ballard Food Bank for their donations because our mission resonates deeply with them. Thank you, Ryan and Connie, for rallying your loved ones to bring food and hope to our neighbors. 

Their brews for food exchange is now an annual tradition! 

Interested in hosting your own food drive? Find our donation drive toolkit and submission form here.