Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank

Mission

The mission of the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank is to unite our community in nourishing and nurturing individuals by removing barriers to healthy food, vital resources, and connections to essential services.

Description

With a 55-year history, the Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank helps our communities thrive by providing equitable, culturally responsive access to nutritious food and basic needs resources to approximately 10,500 people in East King County. Our free food and basic needs resources help people gain and maintain stable housing, employment, and overall health. We help people who are experiencing food, resource, and housing insecurity gain and maintain stability. Our grocery market, grocery delivery, youth nutrition, case management, and emergency services collectively support this goal, through both onsite and mobile services, all designed to remove barriers to resources.

The Need

We've been breaking service records in our market, recently hitting a record of over 390 households served in just 6 hours on Monday, April 20, 2026.

Over 213,000 people in King County receive SNAP benefits and will likely need extra support as major cuts to this program are implemented over the next two years. This, combined with ongoing public safety concerns have created heightened stress for families seeking to keep food on the table. In 2025, we observed a number of trends, including an increase in multi-generational and multi-families in a single household, a more diverse client base, and an increase in the number of individuals reporting that they are sleeping outdoors or living in vehicles. As more neighbors are losing benefits that they rely on for stability, we need to support of our community to meet the growing need for food and resource support.

Additionally, the cost of living vs. wage gap continues to widen in our region. With increased costs, along with decreased basic needs benefits, we continue to see more people in need of these resources more often. In 2025, we made strategic adjustments to our service model in order to accommodate growth with the size of our building and our team. With the support of our donors, volunteers, and these operational changes, we served over 10,500 people through all of our resources. 

According to the King County Hunger Snapshot, 13% of children in King County experienced food insecurity between 2023-2025 and more than 60% of those we serve are children and seniors. Rising food costs especially impact large families where finances have to stretch further and many local families are feeling the strain. People who have not needed help before are having a harder time putting food on the table. In 2025, we saw over 1,000 new households registering for services.

"Growing up in Issaquah, we often donated to the food bank. But I would have never thought I’d go from making six figures, to relying on the food bank to feed my children. The first time we walked through the market, I was nervous yet humbled. Everyone was so kind and helpful. It brought me to tears. I’m so grateful for the Issaquah Food Bank and everything they offer."

- Issaquah Food & Clothing Bank recipient

Your support during GiveBIG will help us serve every individual and every family who comes to us seeking help to get their basic needs met. Thank you for being a vital part of their journey to stability!

 
Thank you for helping us reach our $70,000 goal to provide
1,600 free grocery shopping trips for families
in need of these critical resources!

Thanks to a generous match from a private donor, 
the first $12,000 in gifts of $100+ will be DOUBLED!