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Monday, January 21, 2013
Say Farewell to a Food Bank Icon, Fran Walster
Fran Walster, Maltby Food Bank Director and founder, is retiring after 20 years. Her retirement party is open to anyone who wants to wish Fran well. The celebration takes place on Saturday, Feb. 9, 2013, at the Shepherd of the Hills Lutheran Church at 9225 212th St. SE, Snohomish, from 2 to 4 p.m. Please RSVP by Feb. 7, 2013 to vbyng@frontier.com. Include "Fran" and the number attending in the subject line of the RSVP email. Since the Maltby Food Bank opened its doors 20 years ago, Director Fran Walster has never left the helm. With no start-up money, Fran, along with four other women and the generous support of three area churches, several area businesses and the community, took the old Maltby Mercantile, a vandalized mom and pop grocery store, and created the Make Me a Blessing Food Bank. Over the years Fran has held many jobs at the food bank such as driving the van to pick up food from area grocery stores, holding food drives, ordering food, attending meetings, and doing lots of paperwork, and she always has a smile and a sympathetic ear for both the food bank clients and volunteers. This is all about to change as Fran passes the reins to a new director, leaving her time that she will be able to devote to being a grandma and to spend precious time with her new great grandson. I will just take life as it comes and move with the flow, says Fran. Fran feels that the Maltby Food Bank is unique in that it is not located in a town or city. Being in unincorporated Snohomish County, there is no Rotary or Chamber of Commerce to help support this much needed service. We have our community and a network of friends and neighbors who believe in our work. We are 100% volunteers. We all work hard and we love what we do, says Fran. The food bank is a special place for the many clients who visit each Thursday. Fran and others call these folks our Thursday family and talk caringly about them and their needs. I love helping others by talking to them and showing them care and love, reminisces Fran who was once a single mom who found it hard to stretch her limited budget each month. She and her cadre of more than 50 volunteers have built up the food bank over the years to be able to provide dairy, meat, produce and staples each week to a growing clientele. Through the support of the community and local grocery stores, the Maltby Food Bank is able to provide items that cant be purchased with food stamps such as pet food, baby supplies, birthday bags, and backpacks for children. Fran feels that the volunteers are the lifeline of the food bank. They depend on each other to get the job done and always provide service with a smile to their food bank family. There are many long-time volunteers whose caring hearts and belief in what they do have kept the food bank successful and strong over the years. When asked what words of wisdom she would like to pass along to future volunteers, Fran said, Keep the clients as your focus. Every volunteer is replaceable, no one is better than another. Get along with each other and keep Jesus as the head of Maltby Food Bank. As we trust him, he lays us upon peoples hearts to help those in need and give. Fran will be sorely missed by the clients, volunteers and supporters of the Maltby Food Bank. She is willing to staff a table during client give-out days, but otherwise, she will be enjoying retirement with her family and friends. About Maltby Food Bank The Maltby Food Bank serves the southeast corner of Snohomish County, the region known as Maltby. It was established in 1993 as a registered non-profit organization and belongs to the Snohomish County Food Bank Coalition. The Maltby Food Bank serves at least 110 families per week or 440 people, which includes 40% children and 10% seniors. The Food Bank is comprised of a 100% volunteer staff of more than 50 volunteers. For more information, visit www.maltbyfoodbank.org or www.facebook.com/MaltbyFoodBank. # # #

Maltby, WA

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