A growing hunger by Seth Truscott

VALLEY RECORD SNOQUALMIE

WEDNESDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2010  DAILY UPDATES AT WWW.VALLEYRECORD.COM  75 CENTS

A growing hunger State’s ‘Most

Wanted’ looks at ‘86 Valley killing

Valley’s food banks see biggest demand ever in 2010 BY CAROL LADWIG

BUSINESS

SPORTS

Staff Reporter

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Terri Langley took a deep breath and then hoisted a huge box loaded with groceries over the threshold of the Mount Si Helping Hands Food Bank. With another effort, she pushed the box onto the sidewalk, then went back inside for more. It was the Wednesday before Thanksgiving, and Langley was looking forward to making a holiday meal for her family of four. Langley has been coming here for six months, since she moved to the area. She has been unable to find work, but is grateful to have found the food bank. “This is a beautiful place that helps keep us all fed,” she said. A few minutes later, a young couple came out, arms loaded with provisions. Both the young woman and the man, a North Bend native, believe the food bank has greatly helped them out. Next was an older couple, a mother with her preschool-aged daughter, and two men shopping for a large family. They are of all ages, and from a variety of ethnicities and circumstances. SEE HUNGER, 3

North Bend family hopes TV segment brings answers BY SETH TRUSCOTT Editor

Carol Ladwig/Staff Photo

Snoqualmie Tribe Food Bank Manager Fred Vosk readies a box of basic food that all clients receive. Anyone may “shop” the rest of the facility for fresh produce and other needed items. The Carnation food bank is among Valley non-profits that have seen increased need this season.

Twenty-four years after he was murdered on a rural road near Lake Alice, Tod Berkebile’s killer is still at large. With the 1986 Snoqualmie slaying still on the King County Sheriff’s Office cold case list, Berkebile family members hope that an upcoming televised segment on “Washington’s Most Wanted” will uncover clues and spark progress. “We need to get a lot of Valley viewers,” said Berkebile’s sister, Deborah Reed. “Someone knows TOD BERKEBILE something and it has gone on far too long.” Tod’s story will air at 10:30 p.m. Friday and Saturday, Dec. 10 and 11, on Q13 FOX, and at 9:30 p.m. on Joe TV. The 17-year-old North Bend student dreamed of becoming an engineer or a botanist. He was a hard-working student and SEE KILLING, 4

City, crews say dilapidated fire station must be replaced $5.2 million bond would end drips, rats and safety fears at 1939 building BY CAROL LADWIG

Vol. 97, No. 28

Staff Reporter

Carol Ladwig/Staff Photo

Firefighter Bob Butterfield shakes a loose window in living quarters at the North Bend Fire Station. A new station is the subject of a $5.2 million bond.

North Bend’s fire station is no place to be in an emergency, maybe not even on a good day. Located next to City Hall, the building has leaks, rats, a floor

drain directly to the sewer system, loose windows, an overtaxed electrical system and almost no insulation or storage. It sits in a floodplain, and is so unstable that engineers estimate a third of it would collapse in another earthquake the size of the 2001 Nisqually quake. “When this was built ... it was never intended to be staffed fulltime. This was a volunteer station,” explained firefighter Bob Butterfield on a tour of the sta-

tion’s hazards and assorted repairs that firefighters have had to make do with. The station badly needs fixing up, but the building is past its prime. The two sections were built in 1939 and 1970, so small fixes may outlast the building itself. “You’re talking about an awful lot of repairs and an awful lot of money,” said Mayor Ken Hearing. SEE STATION, 4

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HUNGER FROM 1 In an average week, the North Bend-based food bank serves about 310 families, said manager Krista Holmberg. In the weeks leading up to the holidays, the number has been closer to 400. Increased demand has been a common trend at Valley food banks. At its last distribution in November, Fall City’s Community Food Pantry served 89 families, the most the pantry has seen since it opened in 2007. Board co-chairperson Richard Terbrueggen said the pantry has helped at least 200 different families this year.

At the Adra P. Berry Memorial Food Bank in Preston, “We’ve gone from an average of about 35 families to nearly 50 families a week in the last six months,” said the Rev. Roy Peacock. The need is not just prevalent around the holidays, though. “It’s been steadily increasing over the last two years,” said Mount Si food bank director Heidi Dukich. “We always have new families coming in,” agreed Terbrueggen. Meanwhile, donations haven’t kept the same pace. Carnation’s Snoqualmie Tribe Food Bank serves about 200 families a week, and according

to volunteer Fred Vosk, the bank used to be able to meet its own needs in abundance, but “not so much in the last five years.” “We’d send our overload to other food banks, Mount Si in North Bend, Holy Innocents in Duvall, and a couple of battered women’s shelters,” he said. They still do, but it’s not as much as it used to be.

Community support

Each food bank is supported differently, but all of them need private donations to continue their service. Mount Si, Fall City, and the Hopelink food bank in Carnation are all 501(c)(3) non-profits,

Snoqualmie Valley Record • December 8, 2010 • 3

making any donations to them tax-deductible. Mount Si, Hopelink and Preston also receive some food from Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline. The Fall City pantry applied for assistance from Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline, Terbrueggen said, but was not accepted into the program because there are so many food pantries in need right now. The Snoqualmie Tribe provides its food bank with the facility and transportation. For all its other needs, the food bank relies entirely on private donations. Although the economic pinch is affecting all of the

food banks, none of them have fundamentally changed the way they operate. There are no income-based eligibility requirements at Mount Si, Fall City, Preston, or the Snoqualmie Tribe food banks; Hopelink accepts Valley residents whose income is 185 percent of federal poverty level or less. The only requirement at most food banks is that the clients must live in the Valley. However, no one is turned away without food, and Mount Si works hard to connect clients with the resources they need. Hopelink also offers a range of assistance in Carnation. The Snoqualmie Tribe Food

Bank is unusual in that it has no residency requirement. “We feed anyone who comes in the door,” says Vosk.

Get involved • Mount Si Helping Hand Food Bank, North Bend; (425) 888-0096, www. mtsifoodbank.org. • Fall City Community Food Pantry; (425) 222-6655, or (425) 222-4895, www.fallcityumc.org/foodpantry.html • Adra P. Berry Memorial Food Bank, Preston; (425) 222-5573, • The Snoqualmie Tribe Food Bank, Carnation; (206) 949-2310. • Hopelink Food Bank, Carnation, (425) 333-4163, www.hope-link.org/ take_action/volunteer.

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