West Seattle, Washington
15 Friday
Many holiday-season giving drives have wrapped up by now, so that donations can get to their recipients by Christmas. But not this one, which stretches into the New Year: Straight Blast Gym of Seattle (WSB sponsor) is challenging us all to help build a ton-and-a-half mountain of donated food, and it continues through mid-January, as you can see in the Instagram caption above. The timing will be especially helpful as nonprofits often hit a valley after all the pre-holiday drives are done. SBG is at 5050 Delridge Way SW – can’t miss the brightly painted building! – if you’re too busy to get there before Christmas, make a plan to stop by during the quiet time before New Year’s.
By Tracy Record
West Seattle Blog editor
A 67-year-old West Seattle woman is recovering from being attacked and robbed while walking back to her house after visiting her ailing husband.
We hadn’t heard about last Friday’s attack until a friend of the victim e-mailed us last night:
She was walking the few blocks home after visiting her husband at a care facility and she was attacked by a random perpetrator. He punched her in the face and knocked her to the ground. She suffered a black eye and had two teeth knocked out, as well as suffering other damage to her teeth. They caught the suspect, but she is now looking at a $3,000 dental bill, and she is retired on a fixed income. We wanted to get the word out and make sure everyone stays safe and is aware of their surroundings.
We’ve since obtained the report that includes details of the incident. Here’s what an officer reported finding after responding to the 911 call from 16th SW and SW Sullivan around 6 pm Friday:
(The victim) was holding her face and blood was coming out of her mouth. She stated that she thought her teeth were broken. (She) stated that she was walking down 16th Ave SW when she noticed a male following behind her. She stated that the unknown male charged at her and punched her in the face with a closed fist. (She) fell to the ground on her right knee and screamed for help. She stated that she had had a full knee replacement in her right knee.
She was now experiencing significant pain in her right knee. (She) stated that after she fell, the male came back at her and punched her a second time in the face. The male then ran northbound down the alley on the west side of 16 Ave SW. (The victim) advised that she was missing a pair of prescription glasses.
When the suspect was found nearby, he had her glasses – worth $500 – in his possession, according to the case paperwork, and that raised the crime level from assault to robbery.
Turned out that officers had found him even before they learned of the attack, because of a burglary attempt nearby – a resident in the 8400 block of 17th SW reported a man “banging and kicking at the back door,” according to the police report, which added that the man was reported to have appeared “extremely intoxicated.” The resident yelled at him to leave, which he did, briefly, returning to kick open the door to a shed behind the house, police say. Officers found the suspect at 17th and Cloverdale a short time later; they happened to be nearby, checking out a report of a hit-run crash that damaged a parked car.
The suspect is 19 years old. His record shows that he last spent time in jail this past March; documents in that case indicate that he was arrested for allegedly stealing a hotel van in SeaTac. He was charged with auto theft and DUI – with tests finding .20 blood alcohol – and then struck a plea bargain, pleading guilty to car prowl and DUI. In June, Judge Roger Rogoff sentenced him to two days in jail plus a one-year suspended sentence. While paperwork in this case doesn’t include a current address for him, he was living on Beacon Hill at the time of his arrest in March. Right now, he’s in the King County Jail, in lieu of $75,000 bail.
Meanwhile, the donation account set up by friends of the victim to pay for her estimated $3,000 in dental work is on this GoFundMe page.
8:08 PM NOTE: After reaching the goal, the donation page has been closed, we just noticed.
One way to start the New Year off fresh – end the old year by doing a good deed. The White Center Food Bank is asking for help on New Year’s Eve:
VOLUNTEERS NEEDED FOR INVENTORY HELP DECEMBER 31!
Are you available to help weigh and count the inventory of the White Center Food Bank? We start at 9 am and go until it’s done (usually before 2 pm). We will need 5-10 people who can lift 40 pounds. Other tasks that morning include counting and recording. If you can help with this important yearly task, contact Audrey Zemke at audrey@whitecenterfoodbank.org or 206-762-2848.
The WCFB is headquartered at 10829 8th SW.
Junction Santa is in the house! It’s a festively decked tent – lots of holiday greenery – on the southwest corner of California and Alaska. Above, Elizabeth was visiting Santa when we stopped by. DIY photos are free but bring a diaper donation if you can for WestSide Baby – right outside the tent, helpful elves are waiting to collect what you bring.
This is all happening as part of Hometown Holidays, until 2 pm today.
P.S. If you miss Junction Santa and are looking for last-minute Santa photo ops in the next few days, keep an eye on the ongoing list in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide.
(From this month’s WS Art Walk, Mark Wangerin with the fundraiser calendars featuring his photos)
One more chance to buy the West Seattle Wildlife Calendar, with wonderful photos by Mark Wangerin (who’s shared many here on WSB in recent years) – tomorrow, 8 am-noon, at C & P Coffee Company (5612 California SW; WSB sponsor). Laura Robb from Mark House Publishing just sent word that students from Chief Sealth International High School (whose environmental-education programs benefit from calendar proceeds, and where Mark used to teach) will be there. Or – order online!
With one week until Christmas, if you’re still thinking about helping nonprofits before the holidays, the sooner the better. This morning we have word from WestSide Baby that its holiday closure is coming up fast:
Please note – WestSide Baby is closing for the holidays, including donation dropoff.
In order to perform an inventory and to give staff and volunteers a much deserved break, WestSide Baby will be closing its sites in \ White Center and the Central District for the holidays from December 20th, reopening January 5th.
This means that they will not be accepting donations during this time. Please do not leave donations outside as there are no guarantees they will remain before the sites reopen. If you are interested in donating to WestSide Baby, feel free to bring any items on or after January 5th.
If you’re wondering what WS Baby needs before then – its holiday donation drive info is in the GIVING OPPORTUNITIES section of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide.
Can you spare some time – and your voice – for some special holiday cheer? At 4:30 pm Wednesday, carolers are gathering in the 3600 block of 48th Ave. SW – just west of Madison Middle School – to surprise a neighborhood resident who we are told is very ill and receiving home-based hospice care. We’re also told he’s a retired police officer who “loves Christmas.” His friend Marcia is organizing this and says, “It would just take a few minutes and would be a chance to give back to someone willing to give all.”
This is one of the West Seattle Food Bank‘s most-heartwarming and belly-filling days of the year – the day they welcome a big gift from Nucor Steel and its employees.
This year, employees collected 5,200 pounds of food – more than 2 1/2 tons! We stopped by as they were unloading. They also donated cash and checks that with additional/matching donations from the company brought WSFB a check totaling $21,708.
Your help is appreciated too – for example, if you’d like to donate a turkey or two for Christmas, the food bank tells us next Monday is the optimal dropoff day. They’re on the southeast corner of 35th and Morgan, with donors welcome to use the garage entry off Morgan south of 35th. More info about donating can be found here.
This morning’s chilly wind is a reminder of why the donations you see in the wagon above – and more to come, we’re sure – matter so much. A coat, or blanket, or hat you don’t need can help warm up someone who does. Bring your donation(s) to the Hometown Holidays tent at the south end of the West Seattle Farmers’ Market, where volunteers from the West Seattle High School Key Club are assisting Kiwanis Club members with the collection, and with offering hot cocoa, as well as keeping the tent from sailing away on gusts!
You can also enjoy caroling by the Endolyne Children’s Choir:
It’s all on until 2 pm, as is the Farmers’ Market itself. If you miss this but still have items to donate, we have a list of giving opportunities in the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide!
(WSB photos, updated 9 pm: Above, Santa & Menashe granddaughters Makenna and Angelica)
What could be more Christmasy than Santa photos at West Seattle’s brightest light show? Until 10 pm, “Santa Al” is making his annual stop at the Menashe Family Christmas Lights – bring a nonperishable food item for the West Seattle Food Bank and take a photo that’ll be bursting with holiday festiveness. Yes, the weather’s a little wild, but there’s a canopy for photo protection!
5605 Beach Drive SW.
The Senior Center of West Seattle‘s end-of-year pitch for donations isn’t your everyday end-of-year pitch.
This year, the center is trying to make up for $60,000 it’s not getting from United Way of King County.
That was the West Seattle center’s share of $700,000 that UWKC gave Senior Services last year.
Next year, SS isn’t getting that at all, because UWKC has decided not to fund general-purpose organizations – instead, a spokesperson told us, they’re focusing on a new strategic plan with missions such as helping end homelessness and raise graduation rates.
General funding of services for senior citizens, for example, just doesn’t fit, explained United Way of King County spokesperson Jared Erlandson when we called to ask the reason for the cuts. He said the organization is focusing on spending that can have a direct effect on problems and challenges, rather than spreading the dollars thinly. But Senior Services points out that the elder population is swelling, and, SS spokesperson Karen Bystrom points out, seniors are also a vulnerable population. (SS is not the only organization affected – in all, $1.7 million in funding that goes to 30 organizations is being redirected by UWKC, and they’re not all senior-focused organizations.)
In the meantime, the West Seattle center is trying to raise $25,000 for starters by year’s end. The theme is “keeping the Senior Center thriving.” Center executive director Lyle Evans says WSSC is “responsible for raising 75 percent of the nearly $800,000 annual budget. This loss hits hard since we have counted on this stable income.”
The center is a 501(c)3 organization, so contributions are tax-deductible. Its programs include feeding dozens of local seniors every day in the center’s “Junction Diner.” The center also offers programs that help seniors deal with challenges such as finding affordable housing. And they offer fun, too, from dances to bingo to movies. Right now, they’re just hoping to rustle up the funds to keep all that going.
Though Christmas is still more than two weeks away, some donation/gift drives have to wrap up early so there’s time to get gifts and other items to the people who will have happier holidays because of your generosity. Among them – the kids who will be helped by the Giving Tree at Hiawatha Community Center (2700 California SW). The photo is from Tiffani on the center’s staff; as the poster says, they’re collecting unwrapped gifts until this Friday at 6 pm – just two days away – and they’re hoping to have something for all the kids under 17 who will be at the South Park Community Center holiday party on Saturday.
Your chance to be a real-life Santa continues past then, of course – please scroll through the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide for a long list of giving opportunities, including many local businesses where you can drop off a toy or a coat or other items, large and small.
This Saturday, you’re invited to a pancake breakfast at Highland Park Improvement Club (12th & Holden) to raise money for an 18-year-old West Seattle resident who survived being hit by a train last month in South Seattle. His godmother e-mailed WSB to get the word out, saying that Vincent Hance “is super lucky to be alive and doing amazing!” The event Saturday is from 9 am to noon, with a $5 donation requested to support Vincent’s family: “They don’t have a lot of money and his mother has missed a lot of work.” They also are accepting donations via a GoFundMe page, which tells the story of the incident that left Vincent in the Harborview ICU.
Imagine buying one-of-a-kind holiday gift baskets for family and friends and knowing the entire purchase price would benefit local nonprofits. That’s what’s at the heart of the annual St. Nicholas Faire, happening right now at First Lutheran Church of West Seattle (WSB sponsor) just north of The Junction. The baskets are assembled and donated by church members, each with a theme:
We noticed baskets with Seahawks or Mariners gear, books, toys, cooking, gardening, beer, the list goes on. You can either bid on them or get them for the “guaranteed” price. Your host is FLCWS pastor Rev. Ron Marshall:
Wine-tasting and homemade baked goods are also available during the St. Nicholas Faire, on until 7 pm – as noted in our daily preview for today, there’s a suggested donation for admission, lower if you bring a donated item for the West Seattle Food Bank, which benefits from everything at the Faire along with the West Seattle Helpline. The church is at 4105 California SW; enter off California, just south of the sanctuary door.
P.S. This has been spotlighted in our WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide, still full of fun, giving, and informational listings for the rest of the holiday season (and if we’re missing something, let us know!)
If you have a coat you don’t need … or if you can afford to buy one to donate … a coat drive is on right now for students at Interagency Academy, a network of small alternative public high schools in Seattle, with two West Seattle businesses as the dropoff points. Interagency’s assistant principal Melissa Rysemus, a West Seattle resident, explains:
Are you looking for a meaningful way to make a difference in our city this winter? Consider donating a new or gently used warm coat for a student at Interagency Academy! Interagency is a public alternative high school serving students from all neighborhoods in Seattle. Over 30% of the students enrolled at Interagency are homeless, some are young parents, and most live in poverty.
All sizes are welcome, especially adult sizes from small to XXXL as students can be up to age 21. Hats, scarves, gloves and other warm clothes are also welcome. Some of the students have kids or siblings they take care of, so small kids sizes are needed too.
And West Seattleite Stephanie Gerding adds:
Some of these students live in tents and attendance at schools serving disadvantaged children is down right now —it is simply too cold to make their way to school! Many of these kids don’t have the clothing to stay warm in these cold days. Some teachers are literally giving the coat off their own back when they see these students in need of a little warmth. … There are lots of West Seattle kids that attend this school.
Husky Deli in The Junction (4721 California SW) is a dropoff spot, open Sundays 10-7, Mondays-Saturdays 9-9. Also, Lika Love in north Morgan Junction (6031 California SW) is accepting donations too (and giving $10 off purchases today if you bring something in to donate – open until 5 pm).
P.S. We’re adding this to the “Giving Opportunities” section of the WSB West Seattle Holiday Guide.
One more reminder with the biggest holiday breakfast event of the season just hours away – the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle will be serving you a pancake breakfast 7 am-11 am at the Masonic Center in The Junction. Looks like you can still save $2 by buying advance tickets online – the link is on this page – $8 advance, $10 at the door on Saturday morning. Kids under 10 eat for free if they’re with a paying adult, and they get free photos with Santa Claus. This is the 68th year the Kiwanis Club is presenting this benefit breakfast; if you can, bring a new unwrapped toy for Toys for Tots. It’s bound to be festive and a great way to start a great holiday Saturday in The Junction (looking ahead to the 5 pm tree lighting). The Masonic Center is at 40th SW & SW Edmunds.
Start your Saturday with a neighborhood good deed. Admiral Neighborhood Association president David Whiting says the quarterly Adopt-a-Street is on:
This Saturday, December 5th, is our final Adopt-A-Street cleanup for the year. I’ve heard back from the manager of Metropolitan Market and they will be ready for us with coffee and snacks at 9:00 am in front of the store. We should be done by 12:00 noon.
If you’ve never participated before, ANA provides gloves, safety vests, bags and long-handled tools to grab litter. All you need to do is show up and sign up. We divide up into small groups and cover the streets around the junction. In case you need to ensure you’ll be on Santa’s “nice list,” volunteering this Saturday is a timely opportunity to make a good impression.
The market’s on SW Admiral Way between 41st SW and 42nd SW.
Going to a home basketball game at West Seattle High School this week? Bring along warm clothing for homeless women and their kids. Donna from the West Seattle Booster Club shares word of the donation drive:
The West Seattle High School women’s and men’s basketball teams are hosting a warm clothing drive to benefit the YWCA homeless shelter.
This shelter helps homeless women and their children who range in age from 1 to 12 years old.We are asking for new or gently used hats, scarves and gloves. Other items that would be helpful are 2016 calendars so they can keep track of their appointments, as well as bus tokens and diapers in any size.
We will be collecting these items at the door of this week’s home basketball (tonight and Friday). Please come support West Seattle basketball as well as the women and children of the YWCA.
Tonight, the WSHS boys’ varsity team plays Kennedy Catholic HS at 7 pm; Friday (December 4th), the opponent is Roosevelt, girls’ varsity at 6:30 pm, boys’ varsity at 8 pm, all at the WSHS Gym (3000 California SW).
The West Seattle Food Bank does a lot more than collect and distribute food.
Are you doing some pre-holiday cleaning in your children’s book shelves? The West Seattle Food Bank’s Bookcase Program is in need of all kinds of gently used children’s books, especially for ages 5 years old and younger. Our Bookcase Program is growing tremendously, having distributed more than 14,000 adult and children books through generous donations from individuals and business in our community. Our clients are very appreciative of the program, where they can take home up to 10 books to keep. With the holidays here, you can imagine the demand we are feeling in the children’s book area. Donation hours are Monday-Friday 9 am – 3 pm and we are located at 3419 SW Morgan St. on the corner of 35th & Morgan. Enter through our garage on Morgan and come in through the double doors. Our volunteers will be glad to help you with your donation. Thank you so much.
(SYSO photo)
Students at seven local public schools get the priceless gift of coaching from professional musicians via the Seattle Youth Symphony Orchestras‘ Southwest Seattle Strings Project. If needed, the students can borrow instruments for free from Seattle Public Schools. But the ability to assist stops there, which means it stops short of providing badly needed supplies such as replacement strings, chin rests, shoulder rests, rosin, and method books. So a modest donation drive is under way right now – explained in this clip:
SYSO hopes to put together a supply basket worth more than $1,000, with the assistance of the discount at Hammond-Ashley (mentioned in the video), for each of the seven local schools with which it partners – Arbor Heights, Concord, Highland Park, Roxhill, Sanislo, and West Seattle elementaries, and Denny International Middle School. You can help build the baskets by chipping in a bit here.
Just found out about this – Joey went through his Arbor Heights neighborhood with flyers and is now awaiting (whether you got a flyer or not) donation dropoffs for the West Seattle Food Bank. His family sent the photo and explains, “Joey will be out until 5 pm loading up the truck. He delivered over 70 flyers and is anxiously awaiting for food dropoff in the cold! Stop by and say hi and drop off your donation! 9910 34th Ave SW.”
Just back from The Junction, where this was all happening at California/Alaska at noontime:
With the United Nations climate-change conference about to start in Paris, West Seattleites rallied in “encouragement” of climate action:
This was one of many rallies, small and large, planned for today.
Also on the southwest corner of the Walk-All-Ways intersection today: Wreath sellers from Pathfinder K-8. The school community makes and sells wreaths every year to raise money for environmental education and will be in The Junction every Sunday during the holiday season:
Just across the intersection, at the south end of the official Farmers’ Market zone, the Kiwanis Club of West Seattle was bubbling with enthusiasm about its annual Pancake Breakfast next Saturday.
Everyone’s invited to the Masonic Center (40th/Edmunds) 7 am-11 am on Saturday (December 5th) – if you don’t have tickets yet, buy yours for a discount online right now – $8 online, $10 at the door.
Meet another of your neighbors who’s doing what she can to help people in need. Stephanie Endres created Stephanie’s Lifeline, and organized this afternoon’s Backpacks Bring HOPE event, filling 100 backpacks with basics – first-aid kits, toiletries, some food and beverages. We visited her HQ on Pigeon Point to see the results:
Next step, delivering to the recipients. The slogan on Stephanie’s website: “It’s better to do something small than do nothing at all.” Here’s how to get involved.
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