By Hayden Yu Andersen
Reporting for West Seattle Blog

Visitors and volunteers have been lined up outside of Eastridge Church since 6 AM this morning for their yearly turkey and groceries giveaway. Between their locations in West Seattle and Issaquah, they plan to distribute 1,500 turkeys and holiday grocery bags to those in need – no proof required.

Eastridge Pastor Craig Mathison was busy greeting people outside of the church, shaking hands, and sharing warm welcomes. Mathison has been with Eastridge as their West Seattle campus pastor for five years, and grew up in the Woodland Park area.

The West Seattle location is stocked with 650 full turkey meals this morning, enough for a family dinner. “The only thing we don’t supply is salt, pepper, and butter,” Mathison joked.

(Two of today’s volunteer helpers)

Because he spends the mornings greeting new people during the turkey giveaways, Mathison has noticed that, as he put it, “this year has seen a higher demand.” This includes more first-time visitors, and he remarked that this is the furthest down the road he’s seen the line

It’s worth mentioning that this year, West Seattle has seen a rise in food insecurity, and other local organizations, such as the West Seattle Food Bank, have already been bracing to support their communities in the wake of cuts to vital programs such as SNAP.

But Mathison and the rest of the volunteers present this morning kept spirits high. “We love doing this,” he said. “It’s no problem at all to find volunteers, and people who volunteer once are very likely to show up again.”

Mathison says that at this rate, he expects the giveaway to last until 11:30 as planned.