To ensure that children with developmental delays/disabilities reach their highest potential, United Way of King County supports programs throughout the county that address their needs. We know that a critical piece of success for these children is direct support and engagement from their parents and families. When parents learn their child has delays, they may feel scared, helpless and powerless. But when they are connected to services and information that support and nurture their child’s development, parents feel empowered and supported as a result.
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It has just started to feel like summer here in King County, and yet the school season is just around the corner! While many students are getting all the required items they need for school as well as the “cool” new school clothes, others have a bigger issue to worry about…where they are going to sleep at night.

SchoolHouse Washington (a website that provides information and support for homeless students) recently came out with some findings breaking down homelessness for children and teens in…

On July 14, 2012, the volunteers headed to Renton’s Sunset Terrace Community Building—a partner site for United Way of King County‘s summer meal program. There, they learned about the inner workings of the Summer Food Service Program, a federal program that helps end hunger by feeding kids all summer long, when free or reduced-price meals at school are unavailable.

Boeing volunteers then grabbed bags full of promotional door hangers and hit the streets to get the word out about easy access to summer meal program sites.…

“Over 96,000 King County children utilize free or reduced lunch in school, an 8.5% increase since 2006. However in 2011 only 9.6% of these children who are eligible for free lunch accessed free summer meals.”

This was part of the training for the outreach events that the United Way of King County Summer Meals volunteers took part in. Volunteers attended a short training on how the Summer Food Service Program works, why we needed to do outreach, and what they were going to be doing…

Today I watched a documentary on Hunger in America at the Seattle International Film Festival called Finding North. The film did an excellent job of highlighting what hunger relief advocates and hungry families know – hunger in America is real, it’s growing, and the impact is costing us billions of dollars each year. Perhaps more importantly, the film highlights the role public policy plays in creating the environment that has led to hunger, sustains hunger, and has the ability to end hunger in the United States.

On  Saturday, May 12th, we all have a very easy way to take part in building a Hunger Free Community through the National Association of Letter Carriers Stamp Out Hunger Food Drive

Here’s what you need to do:

1. Collect and bag non-perishable food items (please don’t include items that have expired or are in glass containers)

2. Place the bag by your mailbox and it will be delivered to a local food bank.

This is the 20th year that the Letter Carriers…

Join CityClub on June 6, 2012, at the Westin Seattle for a conversation with former Secretary of State and retired four-star Gen. Colin Powell. Powell will speak on the lessons that have shaped his life and career in public service. He also will introduce his new book, “It Worked for Me,” based on his principles of effective leadership.

Powell also is the founder and chair of the Colin L. Powell Center for Leadership and Service at the City College of New Work. Through the center…

Last Thursday’s Hunger Action Forum was the perfect precursor to this week being Hunger Action Week. One thing was clear from all of the large- and small-group sessions: It’s not just United Way of King County who’s talking about shining a light on hunger in our community.

Forum-goers talked about everything hunger: obesity and widespread access to nutritious food, summer meals for kids on subsidized school meal programs, cooking classes, community gardens, food delivery for seniors and…

With food bank use up 30%, the donation of nonperishable food items couldn’t have come at a better time! Whitepage.com employees decided that their participation in Hunger Action Week was going to be in the form of a food drive, and they collected quite the bounty in a very short time (just 2 weeks).  It was such a delight to help unload the fully packed Subaru on Sunday, March 18^th at the Microsoft Store in University Village. They had collected an assortment of items that…

Veterans Day is a bit of an anomaly of a holiday. Unlike its fellow Federal Holidays, Presidents Day and Columbus Day, that recognize people who have made important contributions to our country, Veterans Day is unique in that many of those being honored are still alive, and virtually all of us have some connection to them. That’s pretty neat if you think about it. Maybe it’s your uncle who served in Vietnam, or your little sister stationed overseas, or a parent of a…