By Daniel Hooker
This article series started off as a local Vashon-Maury Island piece, then I had a thought, wait a minute! We are all doing this – helping others – in many cities, towns, and island communities. I started interviewing food banks around Western Washington about what they offer as vital services for our communities, some of which have been established for more than 50 years, keeping the people thriving.
Our Food Bank started at our Presbyterian Church on Vashon in response to the Boeing layoffs in 1970-1971, when more than 50,000 people lost their jobs.
According to Google, our population is a little over 10,000 people (2023 census) and, at present, the Food Bank serves 1,900 individuals, or 900 families, which is about 20% of the Vashon population.
Consider that our service industry, stores, restaurants, and artists and musicians alike dip into these services to offset the local cost of living, which various resources estimate as being between 53-125% higher than anywhere in the United States.
The attraction of what our community has to offer drew all of us here. From the schools, forests, the diversity of lifestyles, to the expression of art and music, we here on Vashon-Maury Island enjoy all this and more as a “normal” part of our paradise.
Having lived in many northern California communities, where similar features existed until people and families were priced out on rent and home-ownership, I found that these communities all lost the essence, the basic allure, for which people had moved there.
As I watch history repeat itself here on our Island, I wonder, will we be able to keep what we love about Vashon alive, healthy, and thriving? Or will we allow what we came here to enjoy to become only a dwindling memory of a paradise, of a village that cares for itself, and of ourselves as individuals who co-create and caretake the ambiance that is the Island’s charm? We must tend to our community as a garden that we call our Eden.
How do we step into being the guardians of a system that reseeds itself to become not only an abundant resource, but a hope for our future generations? Taking pride in our community is not – as some say – “just a hand out,” but is a hand up.
The list of services and resources that our Food Bank offers is vast, it is a major benefit for our community as a (whole) village, and a major foundation which this community is built upon.
Please take time to support the Vashon community with donations of time (volunteering), food, or financial assistance (grants and cash).
