FamilyWorks

This spring, our Community Resource Navigators started riding along with our Mobile Food Pantry team to meet with families where they live, learn, and grow and help folks access public benefits and community resources.

Visiting our Wallingford Food Bank and Family Resource Center can be a barrier for many folks who would benefit from meeting with our Community Resource Navigators. Now, our Community Resource Navigation team is hoping to reduce that barrier at Mobile Food Pantry shopping sites throughout North Seattle.

So far, they’ve visited the Seattle Public Library’s Broadview Branch and a Bitter Lake affordable housing community. They’ll be visiting these sites each month and plan to add additional sites in the near future!

Happy Pride Month! 🌈

This month and every month, we celebrate the strength, joy, and contributions of LGBTQ+ community members, neighbors, families, and caregivers. We remain committed to creating spaces where everyone is welcomed, valued, and supported with dignity and respect.

Wishing our LGBTQ+ community a joyful, affirming, and love-filled Pride Month.

If you're looking for a way to celebrate Pride Month with your family, check out the Phinney Neighborhood Association - PNA's Rainbow Hop Parade this Saturday, June 6, from 9:30 am–1 pm between 87th and 67th Street on Greenwood Avenue N! Click the link for more info: https://www.phinneycenter.org/events/rainbow-hop/

For years before the onset of the pandemic, we hosted a Kaleidoscope Play & Learn Group in Japanese. Led by volunteers, this group was an important way for Japanese families to build community in Seattle, a space where they could meet new friends and find mutual support. We’re excited to announce that Japanese Playgroup has returned to our Family Resource Center, hosted once again by our amazing volunteer Saori Wunderlich!

We caught up with Saori for an interview, to learn more about her experiences first as a participant in Japanese Playgroup, her transition to her role as a volunteer leading the group, and what this group has meant to her and her family.

“My favorite part is that this playgroup is a place where new friendships begin. Children stay friends even after they start school, and parents become close friends too. Many of us don’t have family nearby, so we really need to help each other. This group is the starting line for that support. I am so happy to create this space for our families.”
- Saori Wunderlich (she/her), Japanese Playgroup Leader

Click the link to read the full interview on our website!

https://www.familyworksseattle.org/interview-with-saori-wunderlich-leader-of-japanese-playgroup/

Interested in joining the Japanese Playgroup or one of our other playgroups? Stop by our Family Resource Center from 10–11:30 am on Tuesdays for our Spanish-language group, 10–11:30 am on Thursdays for our English-language group, and 10–11:30 am on Fridays for our Japanese-language group.

Do you have a child's birthday coming up this summer? Celebrate with a free birthday cake! We've partnered with Cake4Kids for the last couple of years at our Family Resource Center, and are excited to bring the partnership to our Wallingford Food Bank! Cake4Kids donates personalized birthday cakes decorated by local volunteers, and can customize your cake in countless different themes.

Contact our Community Resource Navigators, Anisa and Subi, for more information!
Anisa: (206) 647-1772, [email protected]
Subi: (206) 647-1784, [email protected]

Join us Sunday, October 18, at the National Nordic Museum's Osberg Great Hall for an evening of community and celebration as we come together in support of local families.

At Sunday Supper, you can expect to learn more about the impact of FamilyWorks’ programs directly from participants, enjoy a gourmet, locally-sourced dinner, and get the opportunity to connect with other neighbors who care about supporting their community in the same way you do.

Click the link to learn more and purchase your Sunday Supper tickets today!

https://www.familyworksseattle.org/sunday-supper/

Earlier this month, the Brooks Running Disability Employee Network organized a donation drive for FamilyWorks, collecting $1,500 worth of baby clothes and essentials, including 17 boxes of diapers.

We are so thankful for their amazing impact! We'd also like to give a special shoutout to our Board Member Mike Billish, who connected us with the Brooks Running team!

This past weekend, we hosted our Farm Partner Friendly Hmong Farms at our empty, temporary food bank space for their Mother's Day Weekend mutual aid fundraiser. Folks across Seattle purchased beautiful bouquets of flowers to support local Hmong flower farmers and other Black, Indigenous, and People of Color (BIPOC) farmers impacted by the December 2025 floods.

We're so glad to have had a space available for Friendly and her team to organize their flowers and deliver them to the pick up sites.

Pictured: Friendly's daughter posing with the flowers in our temporary food bank space.

You can learn more about Friendly Hmong Farms and their fundraiser at the link below.

https://www.friendlyhmongfarms.com/sps

We've unfortunately had to cancel our Spanish-language Kaleidoscope Play & Learn Group today, May 12, originally scheduled for 10am at our Family Resource Center. We apologize for any inconvenience and invite families to join us on Thursday at 10am, at our English-language playgroup this week.

Desafortunadamente, el Grupo de Jugeo en español está cancelado hoy, martes 12 de mayo. Pedimos disculpas por cualquier inconveniente e invitamos a las familias a unirse a nosotros el jueves a las 10:00am en nuestro Grupo de Juego en inglés. ¡Todos idiomas son bienvenidos!

Each month, we include a recipe in our Wallingford Food Bank newsletter for our participants to try! This month, we adapted a recipe for Thai Red Curry Vegetable Soup by Beth Moncel from Budget Bytes.

In celebration of Asian American, Native Hawaiian, and Pacific Islander Heritage Month (AANHPI), we're purchasing extra ginger, bok choy, and other culturally relevant ingredients at our Food Bank that can be used in this recipe!

Click the link for the full recipe.

https://www.familyworksseattle.org/monthly-recipe-red-curry/

We're wishing our community a Happy Mother's Day today! We celebrated early last week, inviting families to join us for a lovely dinner and cooking class with Solid Ground's Food Smarts program! Our team of staff and volunteers decorated the Cedar Crossing Community Room with table centerpieces, balloons, and a lovely backdrop for family portraits.

Everyone took part in the cooking class and then shared a beautiful meal together afterwards! About 20 moms and their kids joined us, making this the biggest Mother's Day celebration we've hosted yet.

Thank you again to Solid Ground's Food Smarts team, our volunteers, and all the families who joined us to share this moment together.