Why I Support Ballard Food Bank's New Home

Photo: Julia and Robert Weisenburger signing a beam for our new home during our Beam Signing in February.

I’m so proud to call Ballard my home. I’ve lived here almost my whole life (except for that fun adventure working on a fishing boat in Alaska where I met my husband!). I feel a deep connection to this community, and I have been so blessed to give back through my time as a volunteer on the Ballard Food Bank Board of Directors for many (many) years.

Ballard Food Bank’s work is personal to me. This isn’t something I talk about every day, but I had a single mom and times were tough sometimes. When you experience food insecurity at some point in your life, you don’t forget it. It’s been important to me to do what I can so that other families have enough food. Going to bed with a growling tummy as a kid is tough. And considering that parents usually feed their children first, you know that when a kid is hungry, their parents are even more so.

If you’ve ever been inside the Food Bank’s ‘Big Blue Building’ on Leary, you know it’s a special place. It’s filled with bustling, happy energy, and everywhere you look, neighbors are helping neighbors by volunteering their time and donating food. It’s also been bursting at the seams for quite some time.  My fellow board members and I knew we needed to find a new space for the Food Bank to call home.

I always knew in my heart we’d find the right spot. When it came time to start our capital campaign, Hope Beyond Hunger, to raise funds for the Food Bank’s first permanent home, I jumped at the chance to lead the charge and chair the campaign. My husband and I talked it over and made a stretch gift ourselves because this is so important to us and the community.

We did find that right spot and the perfect location. Have you driven by the construction site yet, at 1400 Leary Way? It’s so exciting to see the building go up! Even more exciting is that, together, we’ve reached 88% of our fundraising goal of $13.9 million. I know I will cry joyful tears when we reach that goal and the doors open to our community this fall.

I’m deeply grateful for our kind and compassionate community who are helping make this dream a reality. It feels good to give back. I encourage everyone to give what they can to be a part of this special community project.

- Julia Weisenburger, BFB Board Member (Past-President) and Hope Beyond Hunger Campaign Chair