Is there a worse blow to your karma than robbing a food bank the week before Thanksgiving? I guess it could be worse if you rob a food bank in the part of Seattle with the lowest incomes. I guess that would be a worse blow to your karma.
The Rainier Valley Food Bank had their external storage container cleaned out by thieves Tuesday night or Wednesday morning. They had enough food inside the warehouse (and I use that term loosely as it’s a tiny space) to serve the regular Wednesday morning crowd of seniors and disabled people, but Saturday — the day after tomorrow — low- income individuals and families will line-up for help making it through Thanksgiving week, the week of giving thanks for bounty and cooperation. The food bank is accepting donations 8 a.m. to 2 p.m. Tuesday through Saturday, 4205 Rainier Ave. S., Seattle, WA 98118. If you aren’t able to help Rainier Valley Food Bank make up the loss, maybe consider helping out the food bank in your part of town. Overall Seattle’s food banks report 50 percent to 100 percent increases in the numbers of people lining up for help. The Mayor and Council made sure next year’s City budget maintains City support for food banks, but no one’s budgets anticipate grand-scale thievery from food banks.
I and my staff volunteered at the Rainier Valley Food Bank earlier this year on a Wednesday. They run a great operation. No food bank deserves to be ripped off. It’s hard to imagine the thinking behind the crime. Taking the entire contents of the storage container isn’t about an individual who is hungry. Will they re-sell the bags of rice, the boxes of pasta, the cans of tuna? I’m clearly missing the master- mind strategy of it all.