Meet Molly Deal! She runs our Home Delivery program and is a vital part of the Food Bank team, making sure our most vulnerable and immobile shoppers get nutritious food delivered to them each week.

Your hometown: Seattle! I grew up around three miles away from the food bank.
First concert: Vance Joy
Coffee or Tea: Coffee, I only drink iced americanos.
Favorite Pizza Topping/s: Mushrooms and spicy sausage
Favorite Place to take out-of-towners in Seattle: Gasworks or Whidbey

What is your background?
I graduated from University of Washington in 2022 where I studied Economics, Math, and Diversity. After living in Seattle my whole life, I knew that I wanted to work somewhere where I can help support the community that raised me. I am also the child of two social workers, who taught me the importance of advocating for people’s rights and doing all you can to make sure people’s needs are met.

When did you start at University District Food Bank?
I started in the fall of 2022 as an Americorp volunteer. In June of 2023 I was hired on as regular staff.

What is your role within the organization?
I coordinate our Home Delivery program. Every week we deliver groceries to around 250 households that cannot come to the foodbank because they are elderly, disabled, or otherwise homebound. We have teams of volunteers on Wednesdays and Saturdays that pack personalized grocery bags based on customer’s dietary restrictions and preferences. Then, we have volunteer drivers drop off groceries to people’s doorstep. We also partner with the Pedaling Relief Project, which assigns volunteer bikers to deliver groceries to about 50 households in the area.

What is the most fulfilling aspect of your work?
There is SUCH a diverse array of people in the food bank space; from my coworkers to volunteers to customers. I find it so fulfilling talking to everyone. You really learn about the full range of human experience. The food bank also definitely functions as an informal community center; I love seeing relationships form between people who would have never met otherwise.

What would you like our donors and volunteers to know about the Food Bank?
Right now, there are around 100 people on the waitlist for our Home Delivery program. Some of our elderly and disabled neighbors have been waiting to be a part of this program for well over a year. In order to move people off the waitlist, we need more regular delivery drivers, either on Wednesdays or Saturdays. We also need more food in order to accommodate the growing program!

To be a volunteer delivery driver sign up online here and our volunteer coordinator will contact you.