Story by Tracy Record
Photos/video by Patrick Sand
West Seattle Blog co-publishers

The West Seattle Food Bank is providing food to 30 percent more people than it did a year ago.

If that sounds like a big increase, consider this: The need for another WSFB service, emergency financial assistance, has gone up 300 percent.

All that is part of why every dollar given at the WSFB’s “Instruments of Change“ dinner/auction mattered so much. The crowd gathered Saturday night at The Hall at Fauntleroy heard about the people behind those numbers – an average of 500 families served every day that the Food Bank’s 35th/Morgan HQ is open for distribution, home deliveries to 400 more families every week, more than 400 students getting “backpacks” of food to take home for the weekend, when there’s no school meals to stave off hunger. And the WSFB operates the Clothesline clothing bank, too, whose clientele has doubled.

To help pay for all those services for another year, hundreds of supporters not only bought tickets to the dinner, but also had the opportunity to give more in multiple ways at the event, such as the traditional “dessert dash”:

There was also bidding on auction items – the silent auction included this bicycle:

The live-auction options included a West Seattle “staycation” that went for $400 and an annual favorite, the taco-and-margarita party with WSFB executive director Fran Yeatts and former operations manager Lester Yuh (auctioneer Matthew DiLoreto awarded two, at $2,600 each)

Before the bidding, Yeatts took the microphone to speak about the WSFB’s “explosive growth” as well as a big upcoming staff change and a highlight of the night – the annual Instrument of Change Award, presented this year to C & P Coffee Company (WSB sponsor) proprietors Pete and Cameron Moores.

As Yeatts explained, C & P supports the food bank in myriad ways – from regular musical fundraisers tp Pete’s weekly volunteer delivery-driver shift!

Also speaking was the new WSFB board president, Joe Everett, who you might know as the longtime City Attorney’s Office liaison at the Southwest Precinct. He spoke about how his public-service career has shown him so much of what happens “when our social safety net fails” but he’s heartened at the support for the work WSFB does “to stop those things before they happen”:

A video produced by Straight 8 Films was shown later, introducing gala-goers to WSFB clients and volunteers, with the observation “None of us ever expect to be in need … but it happens … and when it does, you can expect the West Seattle Food Bank to be here.”

Earlier in the program, there were shoutouts for some of the elected officials past and present who were in attendance. We photographed them, and a few others, during the “happy hour” that opened the event. First, from left, State Rep. Emily Alvarado, State Senator Joe Nguyen, and Deputy King County Executive Shannon Braddock:

Below, former State Rep. Eileen Cody and former King County Councilmember Joe McDermott:

Below, WSFB’s outgoing development director Breanna Bushaw (thanked by Yeatts in her speech) and West Seattle Chamber of Commerce executive director Rachel Porter:

And incoming WSFB Development Director Robbin Peterson with executive director Yeatts:

If you couldn’t get to the event, you can help WSFB in multiple ways every day of the year – here’s how.

(WSB was a community co-sponsor of this year’s Instruments of Change.)