Together, we did it!

After many years of thoughtful planning, hard work, and with a groundswell of support from you, our caring community…We did it! We met our capital campaign goal of $13.9M. We built our new home, a Hub for Hope, at 1400 NW Leary Way. With great joy, we plan to welcome our neighbors to our new home in mid-October.

You have been side-by-side with us this through this journey and we are overwhelmed with gratitude. You gave generously because you share our values: We are neighbors helping neighbors. We believe access to food is a basic human right. We care deeply about our community.

An early Graham Baba Architecture drawing, and the state of construction in August 2021.

We met our goal because of our community coming together to make this moment happen. Over 1,300 individuals, families, companies, faith groups, community organizations, and foundations came together in community to build something tremendous together. Gifts of all sizes truly mattered in this campaign because added up together they built a Hub for Hope where everyone is welcome. Whether you gave $5.00 or $1 million, you helped make this happen, we see how much you care, and we are grateful for you.

When we started planning this years ago, we were not in a pandemic. We knew that space was tight in our rental and that more folks needed food and services. We began dreaming and strategizing about creating something special, designed with inclusion and equity and dignity in mind.

Then the pandemic hit, and numbers skyrocketed. In February 2020, 3,200 people visited Ballard Food Bank or received food deliveries; in April 2021, that number had more than doubled to nearly 6,800 in a single month! Many people have never been to a food bank before, but the loss of jobs and income were devastating. Through the support of you, our community, we were able to reinvent our operations and ramp up services to become part of the solution.

Now, with our new home opening in mid-October, we will be expanding our services to meet the needs of our community. With more space and a bigger staff, we can increase how much food and financial assistance we give to those who need it. With a larger Community Resource Hub, we can connect more people to more resources.

We can’t wait to invite you to stop by and visit us at this new home that YOU helped build. Stay tuned for information about our grand opening this fall.

From the bottom of our hearts, THANK YOU for helping us build our new home!

With Gratitude,

Jen

Jen Muzia, Executive Director