Sit, Eat, Repeat!

Back by popular demand … the 2nd annual 
Columbia City Chow Down
Tuesday, July 24th
5 to 9 pm

Support our great cause while taking a fun-filled
culinary tour of Columbia City's fabulous restaurants!  

Columbia City boasts some of Seattle's newest,
hottest food spots, as recently reported in
the New York Times!

Buy your “passport” ($50 per person),
bring your friends, and prepare to sample
scrumptious bites from:

Afrikando Banadir
Bananas Grill
El Pilón
Empire Espresso
Full Tilt Ice Cream
Geraldine’s Counter
Island Soul Restaurant
Jones Barbeque
La Teranga
Lottie’s Lounge
Rookies Sports Bar & Grill
The Spice Room
St. Dames Café
Tutta Bella Neapolitan Pizzeria
Wabi-Sabi Sushi & Restaurant

100% of the proceeds go to Rainier Valley Food Bank!
Purchase Passports to attend. 
Thank you for supporting us!

Orca School Rocks!

Watch out Rainier Valley - we've got some serious do-gooders, movers and shakers on our hands! RVFB staff and volunteers just got back from Orca K-8 School and we are floored by how much food they have raised! This morning at 11am students ceremoniously marched around the school to deliver 500 cans and non perishables to RVFB. Under the banner of the school program, “ Kid A Can A Month: Quest for 5,000 ”, nearly 500 participants have collected over 5,000 cans in addition to raising over a $1,000 and harvesting 200 pounds of fresh produce-grown in their garden and pea patch. This is by far the most food any school has ever collected for the food bank!

Huge thanks to Dave Couture, of room 201 at Orca for coordinating this effort!

www.orcapta.org.

 Orca students in food drop procession

Lots of high fives as we chant "Orca School Rocks!"

Your CAN counts!

Food Drive Volunteers Andrew, Ray & Yvonne at PCC

Food Drives @ PCC Natural Food Market  on 6/16 & 6/23

Volunteers will be outside PCC - Seward Park from 10am-3pm, Saturday June 16th & 23rd collecting non-perishables. We rely heavily on food drives to keep our non-perishable shelves full, year round. Trust us - your can counts! We are always looking for volunteers to join too!

Types of Food RVFB Collects:

All food collected during food drives should be non-perishable. Our goal is to provide healthy food to our clients including protein and vegetables. We are most in need of high-protein, nutritious foods:

• Canned chicken, tuna and salmon

• Beef stew, meat soups

• Hearty soups

• Canned vegetables and fruits

• Dry or canned beans (kidney, pinto, green, yellow, refried or black beans)

• Peanut butter

• Pasta

• Rice

• Pancake or baking mixes

• Cereal and oatmeal

• Granola bars or energy bars

• Ensure or other nutritional supplement drinks

• Baby food and formula

Due to health code requirements, during food drives we are unable to accept:

• Damaged or unlabeled cans

• Perishable items

• Homemade items

• Non-commercial canned or packaged items

• Open or used items

Sam's Coconut Cornbread!

Sam Osborne, RVFB Executive Director, bestows his wow-worthy recipe! This will surely make nice with your neighbors!
Ingredients:  
¾ Cup Fine Yellow Cornmeal
¼ Cup Coarse Yellow Cornmeal (Polenta or Grits)
1 Cup Unbleached All-Purpose Flour
¼ Cup Sugar
¼ Cup Shredded Coconut
1 Tbs Double-action Baking Powder
1 tsp Fine Sea Salt
1 Egg
1 Cup Buttermilk
1/3 Cup Vegetable Oil
1 Tbs Unsalted Butter

Instructions: 
1.       Preheat oven to 400F.
2.       Combine all dry ingredients in large mixing bowl using wire whisk.
3.       Beat egg lightly in smaller mixing bowl. Add buttermilk and oil, and whisk to combine.
4.       Place butter in center of cast iron skillet or 8x8 baking pan, and place in hot oven to melt butter (a couple of minutes).  Remove pan from oven and swirl to coat with butter.
5.       Pour buttermilk mixture into dry mixture, and combine thoroughly using wire whisk or wooden spoon.
6.       Using a rubber spatula, scrape cornbread batter into hot pan, and place in oven.
7.       Bake at 400 for 23 – 25 minutes. Remove from oven, invert onto cutting board, slice and serve warm.

Note: For a real Southern treat, crumble a cool slice of cornbread into a mug of cold buttermilk. Add sea salt, freshly ground black pepper, and hot sauce (I prefer Frank’s Red Hot) to taste, and enjoy with a spoon. Breakfast of champions!

New Volunteer Positions!

Rainier Valley Food Bank has loads of new volunteer positions. Let us know how you would like to get involved! 

Home Delivery Driver

Tues or Thurs, 10am - 12pm

Deliver smiles and healthy food to your homebound neighbors! Must have own car and drivers licence.

More Info

Guest Check-In Volunteer

Sat, 9am - 2pm

Greet food guests as they arrive on Saturdays and enter their info into our MS Access database. Previous data entry or similar experience required. 3 month minimum commitment @ 2x a month. A fast paced, yet very rewarding experience as you great approx 400 food guests throughout the day. 

Columbia City Chow Down Volunteers

July 24th, 4:30-9:30pm

Help with event logistics during the Columbia City Chow Down. Food lovers unite while dining out at some of Columbia City's most fabulous restaurants! All proceeds benefit the Rainier Valley Food Bank.

Dried Fruit Processing

Mon - Thurs, 10am-4pm

Your volunteer time = dried fruit for RVFB! “Be awesome. Help us feed kids.” 

Email ProUseProduce@gmail.com to sign up. 

Location: St. Andrews Church,

111 NE 80th St, Seattle WA 98115

Data Entry

Tues or Thurs, 10am-2pm

Aid in various admin support tasks. Must be highly proficient in MS Suite.

More Info

Outreach Committee

Help RVFB develop relationships with faith communities and schools.

Flexible hours - remote work. 

Development Committee Member

Participate in strategic planning efforts to build a sustainable development platform. Seeking individuals with experience in fundraising and/or development, strong verbal and written skills and a high level of dependability and follow-through. 

More Info

“Urban Agriculture” Intern

16-24 hours, weekly

Support current urban agriculture partnerships as well as develop new opportunities. Current partnerships include: ProUse Produce, City Fruit, Just Garden Project, Seattle Community Farm, Rainier Beach Urban Farm and Wetlands. Learn about all these awesome programs as you liaise with RVFB!

More Info 

Seattle Community Farm Work Parties

Through November

Tues 9am – 1pm, Thurs 5 – 8pm, & Sat 10am – 2pm 

Food grown at the Seattle Community Farm will be shared with RVFB. In April & May we received 438 lbs of fresh greens!

PCC Packing Party

July 17th, 7pm - 8:30pm

Help package bulk foods donated from PCC Seward Park. Think beans, rice and oats, oh my!

More Info

Seattle Marathon Partner

Nov 23 - 25

Are you a runner? Join "Team Feed" on Crowdrise and raise funds while you run for RVFB! Folks are also needed to work info tables and water stations.

Food Drive Volunteer

Wed or Sat, 9am - 2pm

Pass out fliers and collect food at neighboring grocery stores. RVFB relies heavily on weekly food drives to feed your hungry neighbors!

Sign up today