Involving Students as Volunteers Keeps Food Bank on the Move

In 2010 Family Works collected over 522 tons of food through the generous support of the local Wallingford and Seattle community. FamilyWork’s dedicated staff and volunteers work hard to ensure that all of the food is carefully sorted, organized, refrigerated, and made ready to distribute to eager customers throughout each week.As with most food banks, storage capacity and mobility of food can be quite challenging. When Sanjay Rao, food bank volunteer and FamilyWorks board member, first began working in the food bank he witnessed the heavy moving and shifting of the 300-400 pound stacked crates of food. “There’s got to be a better way,” he thought.
Staff and volunteers began brainstorming ways to improve the mobility of food. After researching costly solutions and testing out three hand-made prototypes, it was decided that a simply designed wood frame with swivel wheels could be a hopeful solution. To help with building the carts, the project became a great community service opportunity for a group willing to help out. Thirteen students from Franklin High School’s Woodshop class, one of the few Woodshop programs left in Seattle, stepped up to the challenge.
Some students even expressed an ongoing desire to volunteer after school. In the mean time, the carts will help keep thousands of pounds of nutritious food moving more efficiently throughout the food bank each week. The benefits of this collaborative project will help to better serve the individuals and families who need it most.

Sozo Friends is a proud supporter of FamilyWorks.

Sozo Friends & Transform Burien

Sozo has partnered with Transform Burien, a local Not-for-profit organization who providing meals to local homeless, widows, orphans and families in need. Sozo provides it’s artisan crafted wines to area Restaurants who would like to help meet this community need. Restaurants simply sell wine by the glass or the bottle and Sozo contributes the money for the meals as wine is sold.

Click here to see Sozo Friends Transform Burien Video

Welcome To Sozo Friends In Action

Great friendship has many components; eating and drinking together, fun, laughter, sharing lives and significant conversation. But one often forgotten aspect is that friendships are always deepened when we co-labor on something significant to each person and greater than ourselves.

While everyone wants deeper friendships few people actually experience them. Cultivation of relationships takes prioritized time AND someone willing to catalyze them. It is the purpose of Sozo Friends to be the catalyst for friends in action and create a micro funding tsunami that grows to address in significant ways the unmet basic needs of our world; food, water, freedom, medicine and education. We seek to do this in a way that leaves every Sozo Friend wealthier due to their involvement in friendship, meaning & satisfaction from giving.