The city of Redmond proclaimed Sept. 21 as Redmond’s Day of Concern for the Hungry.

Mayor John Marchione will join with councilmembers, human services commissioners, the Redmond Youth Partnership Advisory Committee and others in holding a food drive to benefit Hopelink’s Redmond food bank.

The food drive will be held from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. on Sept. 21 and 22 at the Bella Bottega QFC, 8867 161st Avenue Northeast.

At the Sept. 17 council meeting, Marchione read the proclamation that stated, “an outpouring of community assistance is important to address the desperate needs of the hungry when winter approaches, and low incomes are stretched to cover increasing fuel, electricity and rental costs, leaving less money for monthly food purchases.”

Suzanne Wiley, representing the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints and the Emergency Feeding Program of Seattle and King County — which partners with Hopelink in Redmond — received the proclamation.

“I’m grateful to partner with the city,” Wiley said. “We need each other. We need the city, the structures, the resources and we need your mission statement of concern.”

Wiley said the feeding program will be located at various grocery stores in the area including Redmond, Bellevue, Issaquah, Seattle and other cities. She said they won’t be asking for money but rather passing out lists with what is needed to fill the shelves to feed hungry people. Shoppers are encouraged to donate whole grains, nuts, dried fruit, pasta, peanut butter, canned tuna, and other non-perishable items.

Marchione strongly “urges all residents to join the Emergency Feeding Program and local food banks to nourish those who are hungry.”

According to the city, there are about 600 families living below the poverty level in Redmond. In 2018, Hopelink helped 63,000 people within King and Snohomish counties through a variety of programs created to address poverty. Hopelink also provided about 2.23 million meals with 13,998 people receiving food assistance. Each month, Hopelink distributes more than 47,000 pounds of food to the city of Redmond.