Wildbird Charity delivering more weekend meals to hungry kids

For almost two years, Wildbird Charity has been providing Whatcom County kids with bags of food to take home on weekends. But demand is growing during the coronavirus pandemic as many parents lose their livelihoods due to mandatory business closures. As a result, Wildbird has gone from supplying 220 food bags each week to 830 bags, said Phill Esau, executive director of Wildbird Charity.

“Many families have become unemployed, so the need has grown tremendously since the virus hit,” Esau said.

Wildbird’s program supplements efforts by school districts to provide breakfasts and lunches to kids stuck at home during mandatory school closures. For example, the Blaine school district is currently delivering meals along regular bus routes Monday through Friday, and it is also distributing meals at five churches around Blaine.

Although it delivers double on Fridays, food from the school district is not always enough to last the whole weekend, Esau said. That’s why Wildbird provides food bags every Friday to kids from the Blaine, Bellingham and Mt. Baker school districts who are in need. Each bag contains two breakfasts, two lunches, two dinners and some snacks.

The Blaine Food Bank donates food for the Blaine portion of the program, while the rest of the food is usually purchased from stores like Costco, which generally don’t offer bulk discounts to charities. The food is purchased using donations from private individuals, corporations, the Rotary Club and churches.

Food bags were previously assembled at three locations: St. Sophia Greek Orthodox Church in Bellingham; the Blaine school district’s Family Service Center; and the Mt. Baker school district in a portable trailer adjacent to Kendall Elementary School. After the virus hit, the program grew and schools and churches were forced to close, volunteers relocated all packing to Blaine.

Every Tuesday and Thursday, about 20 volunteers – divided into morning and afternoon crews – get together in Blaine to pack food bags. The volunteers consist of various community members, including some people who had walked past the building, asked what was going on and offered to assist. “It’s a nice variety of hardworking people who enjoy what they’re doing,” Esau said.

Packing is done at the old Wolten and Montfort grocery store at 648 Peace Portal Drive, a structure that is being renovated by Nimbus Properties, a real estate company whose proceeds help support Wildbird Charity. “The city gave us a temporary occupancy permit to do the packing,” Esau said.

Working together, volunteers wear masks and gloves and practice social distancing. After the food bags are assembled, they are delivered on Fridays to school-aged children in need in Blaine, Bellingham and Mt. Baker. Last week, Wildbird’s weekend program more than doubled in size after expanding to Ferndale, where the charity will deliver an extra 500 bags of food per week.

If you are interested in donating to or volunteering for Wildbird Charity, please visit wildbirdcharity.org. The charity is a registered 501(c)(3) nonprofit, and those who make charitable contributions will receive official donation receipts.