3,665 kids in Bellevue are living in poverty. Hunger happens here.

Helping Bellevue’s Children and Their Families For Over 100 Years

Our mission: To foster stability and self-sufficiency for Bellevue’s children and their families through programs that feed, clothe and educate.

You can help.

Without proper clothing, children are at health risk

and lack the confidence to thrive.

Clothing

20% of children in Bellevue are

living in poverty.

Emergency Assistance

www.BellevueLifeSpring.org Support children in Bellevue:

Helping Bellevue’s Children and Their Families For Over 100 Years

Break the Cycle of Poverty

Hunger affects one in five students in the

Bellevue School District.

Food

By 2018, 67% of jobs in Washington state will require

postsecondary education.

Education

Karly is 14 years old and volunteers as a peer mentor at her middle school in Bellevue. Her family is hardworking, unfailingly optimistic and very supportive of each other.

Behind the scenes her family faces tremendous hardships. Her mom is unable to work as she is fighting multiple forms of cancer. Her father works the graveyard shift at a convenience store to provide the basics for his family and time to attend to his wife’s health issues. Karly is working through the effects of a severe childhood trauma that has left her with post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD).

The family first contacted Bellevue LifeSpring looking for assistance in getting clothing for Karly. Like many children living at or near the poverty line, new clothes are simply not an option. Karly was being bullied because her jeans were worn out and her shoes had holes in them.

At the home visit with Karly’s family, the Bellevue LifeSpring staff was able to provide items to address this family’s immediate needs as well as some extras:

Food: bags of food and basic needs items (toiletries, laundry detergent, toilet paper, etc.) from the Bellevue LifeSpring food pantry.

Clothing: gift cards to the Bellevue LifeSpring Thrift Shop so that all three members of the family could receive quality clothing and shoes.

Education: a new backpack for Karly to use for school.

Emergency Assistance: a gift card to a local store for additional items, a quilt hand sewn by a group of women at Bellevue Christian Church and zoo passes for a stress free family outing.

Karly was most excited to see the quilt. The family had lost a storage unit which housed many of their belongings. One of the items they lost was a quilt handed down from Karly’s great-grandmother. Karly thought the new quilt looked a lot like the family one and her incredibly mature reaction was, “Even when all things seem to be lost, good always comes our way.”

Donate clothing, non-perishable food, basic needs items or cash. Every dollar counts.

Shop at the Bellevue LifeSpring Thrift Shop, located in Bellevue Square.

Volunteer with programs and fundraising events.

Meet Karly

Pledge Your Support

www.BellevueLifeSpring.org @BlvueLifeSpring/BellevueLifeSpring info@BellevueLifeSpring.org 425-451-1175

Special thanks to our media partner:

Dear Bellevue Residents,

The children in our community need your help. Twenty-one percent of children in the Bellevue School District are on the federal free and reduced-price lunch program. These are the children we serve.

Bellevue LifeSpring is a nonprofit children’s charity with the mission to foster stability and self-sufficiency for Bellevue’s children and their families through programs that feed, clothe and educate. We also provide emergency assistance in times of crisis.

Despite the belief about the affluence of Bellevue, there are still people living in poverty here. Families living in their cars, children wearing shoes with holes in them and straight A students who can’t afford college are here in our community.

One in five children is living at or near the federal poverty line. Today, more than 150 students in the Bellevue School District are homeless.

Unfortunately, we are not meeting the needs of our community. Last year, we turned away 792 calls for assistance due to lack of funding or ineligibility. We want to be in a position where we are no longer turning away those seeking our assistance. We want to ensure that every child wakes up and faces the day with a proper meal, proper clothing and the necessary funding to get them on an educational path that will empower them for the future.

We know that hunger can be invisible. But the need is not. Hunger happens here. As a community, it’s our collective role to raise funds for programs that support the children of our community.

We are committed to continuing the work Bellevue LifeSpring started when it was created over 100 years ago to address the needs of a growing community.

You can help.

Donate money to the organization, clothing to the thrift shop or supplies to the food and basic needs pantry. Shop at our thrift shop at Bellevue Square. Volunteer with our programs and fundraising events.

Together we can make a difference. Thank you.

Jennifer Fischer Executive Director