BELLINGHAM (June 3, 2020) – WECU has partnered with the Bellingham Food Bank to help
address the issue of food insecurity. WECU has contributed volunteer drivers for the food bank’s
food delivery program and made a $3,000 donation.

One in five workers across the state have filed for unemployment because of the Coronavirus
economic slowdown. This has brought to light the growing issue of food insecurity.

“The COVID-19 outbreak created an urgent and immediate need to take action,” said Melanie
Danner, Volunteer Coordinator for the Bellingham Food Bank. “We needed to expand our food
delivery program dramatically. By partnering with Whatcom Unified Command and Whatcom
Volunteer Center we have been able to serve almost 1,000 households every week.”

WECU has been able to provide 48 employee volunteers for the program over multiple weeks.
These volunteers picked up the food and delivered it to the homes of individuals and families
that are of higher health risk or otherwise unable to make it to the Food Bank’s other
distribution channels.

“We learned of the issue and wanted to do whatever we could to help,” said Virginia Gustke,
Community Impact Representative at WECU. “We quickly put out the call for volunteers and a
good number of employees stepped up.”

In a time of high need, many food banks have also suffered from regular food drives being
cancelled. The Letter Carrier drive which typically takes place in early May but has been
postponed, typically provides around 80,000 pounds of food for local food banks. WECU has
made a $3,000 donation to help address this loss.

“The biggest need we have right now is financial,” Danner said. “We want to continue provide
food for those in our community who need it, but we need money to do that. The food bank has
a lot of buying power. For those who can, we encourage you to donate so we can keep our
community fed in this difficult time.”

To learn more or donate, visit bellinghamfoodbank.org.

About WECU

With more than 130,000 members and more than $1.8 billion in assets, WECU is the largest not-for-profit credit union in Whatcom County. WECU has 415 employees and gave close to $500,000 to various local nonprofits and community groups in 2019.

Media Contact:
Keith Mader, Program Manager PR & Content at WECU, 360-756-7694, keith.mader@wecu.com