SEQUIM — More than 800 families received Holiday Meal Bags in time for the Thanksgiving weekend thanks to a community effort of dozens of people.

Organizers with the Family Holiday Food Bag Distribution November event estimate 755 families received meals at Carrie Blake Community Park last Friday and another 100 bags were delivered.

“Thanks to everyone that helped with the planning, preparation and distribution of the Holiday Meal Bags,” said Andra Smith, Sequim Food Bank executive director.

“This event is an amazing example of Sequim’s collaborative spirit, and we are grateful for our community’s continued support.”

Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) members, various churchgoers and service group members and other groups turned out to help direct cars, bag food and fill trunks and backseats with hearty meals.

Lou Ann Linder with the Sequim Valley Lions said she helped at the December distribution day last year and said “it feels wonderful to give back to the community and know families will have a meal.”

Smith said they planned to distribute food for 1,200 families through Friday’s event and another 800 for the Dec. 16 (Christmas) distribution day.

She estimated another 100 families being provided meal bags each of the two days.

As previously mentioned, Sequim Food Bank has seen a 90 percent uptick between October 2021 and 2022 in usage, Smith said.

As demand goes up, she said the Sequim Food Bank’s primary needs are monetary as state and federal relief are being reduced.

To make a donation online, visit sequimfoodbank.org; mail to: Sequim Food Bank, P.O. Box 1453, Sequim WA, 98382. Or drop off a donation with staff at 144 W. Alder St.

The Sequim Food Bank is open from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. Mondays, and from 9 a.m. to noon Fridays and Saturdays. It is closed Friday and Saturday and re-opens Monday, Nov. 28.

For more information, call 360-683-1205.

The next Family Holiday Meal Bag Distribution is set for 11 a.m. to 2 p.m. Dec. 16, starting at Trinity United Methodist Church, 100 S. Blake Ave.

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Matthew Nash is a reporter with the Olympic Peninsula News Group, which is composed of Sound Publishing newspapers Peninsula Daily News, Sequim Gazette and Forks Forum. Reach him at mnash@sequimgazette.com.