Local Teens Lend a Helping Hand

Featured here:  Ricky Bonachea who drives from Bremerton to help us, and Rachelle Charlie and Mikaila Lestenkof.

The lazy, hazy days of summer usually mean long stretches of fun and recreation for students who have worked and studied hard all the school year.  But for some of our local teens, the summer means it's also a time to give back to their community.  For many summers, Fishline has been able to keep local high school and college students busy helping in the food bank and on special projects, but we've had more help from our youth this summer than ever before.

After an announcement was made at North Kitsap High School Honors Program just before the end of the school year, more than 12 students immediately jumped in to help us.  First on the list of projects was sorting the food received during the recent postal drive, nearly 17,000 pounds of cans, jars and packages that needed to be date checked and  organized.  Thanks to the help of these young people, we were done in 1 week, a process that normally takes 2-3 weeks.  Then it was onto helping organize the new front market system, all the while pitching in every day by sorting groceries and stocking food shelves as they emptied during our busy days.  Some of our students will even be serving as checkout volunteers next week and beyond, as we implement our new "Fish Bucks" market design.

Featured:  Marlon Basco & Bryce Whitford pack up boxes of bread. (Kitsap Sun)

All around Fishline, you can hear volunteers say to each other, "The teen help we've had this summer has been great!" and that is certainly true.  We're very lucky to have their help, knowing that our future is in good hands if it's in the hands of these great leaders-in-the-making.