Hotel Leo to host emergency fundraiser for Bellingham Food Bank
Although full SNAP benefits are expected to resume for recipients who lost them nationwide during the federal government shutdown, food banks have been hit hard over the last several weeks to try to fill the need.
To help, The Hotel Leo in Bellingham is hosting a fundraiser at 5:30 p.m. Thursday, Nov. 13, with the goal of raising $50,000 for The Bellingham Food Bank.
“The damage has been done: food bank stores are depleted and reinstated SNAP benefits won’t cover the weeks families have gone without food,” said Hotel Leo owner, Jovan Hall, in a news release.
In Whatcom County, about 15% of the population relies on SNAP benefits, and the Bellingham Food Bank has doubled its weekly purchasing budget from $75,000 to $150,000 to try and meet the need, according to the release.
“It was kinda a last-minute thing. With the SNAP shutdown, people were in real trouble, and we wanted to do something to fill the gap,” Hall said in an interview with The Bellingham Herald.
“We have the hotel, so we called for some assistance. We called friends and we called electives and everybody jumped in at the same time, and said ‘yes.’”
The fundraiser is located in the hotel’s Crystal Ballroom and is open to the public. It will include speakers Mike Cohen, the Executive Director of The Bellingham Food Bank, and Washington Senator Sharon Shewmake, according to Hall.
Donations will be made online through a QR code that will be posted at the fundraiser. Money donations to The Bellingham Food Bank can be made through their website.
As of Wednesday, about $17,000 had been raised through early donations, mostly through business sponsors, including The Hotel Leo, People’s Bank, IMCO Construction, Barron, Quinn, Blackwood Law firm, The Chuckanut Health Foundation, Matia Contractors, Inc. and Daylight Properties, according to Hall.
.jpg)