Last week we at North Bend ACE Hardware had the extreme pleasure and honor to work alongside some generous, caring volunteers at the “New Faces for Helpful Places” job site, the Mount Si Helping Hands Food Bank in North Bend.

Our store had the good fortune of being able to donate the products and supplies for the project, and we excuted the coordination. But it could not have been such a huge success without the businesses and residents that stepped forward and supported the effort through donations of time, labor and expertise. Nearly 40 volunteers spent all or part of two days swinging hammers, painting, assembling storage units and much more. Others started the week before with prep work or completed projects that couldn’t be done with 40 other people running around, like putting in the sidewalk and moving gravel.

We were grateful for the opportunity to give back to an organization that has served our Valley so well for so many years.

Our heartfelt thanks to all those who stepped up with us to complete the project. We were pleased at the response, but not necessarily surprised. We expected our local folks to step forward. This Valley is filled with those kinds of people.

The following list is what we have gathered so far. We tried not to miss anyone.

Projects completed included: interior and exterior painted; floors scrubbed and disinfected; cooler, floor and walls scrubbed and disinfected; 10-by-8-foot metal shed assembled and installed (with padlocks); two additional upright storage units assembled and installed (with padlocks); gravel pad and pavers laid as base for shed and storage units; sidewalk formed, poured and finished from street to building; driveway leveled; interior overhead shelving installed; shelving units assembled and installed in cooler, storage room and office cubby; miniblinds installed on windows; screens built and installed on windows; security bars removed, sanded, painted and replaced; literature holders installed; interior wood units painted; distribution table barrier curtains installed; under-table rolling platforms built and installed; new light fixtures installed; dry-erase boards for inside communication installed; fascia cap replaced on front; new signage; roll-down wind and rain breaks installed; new light fixture put on front of building; and the gang installed a new exterior door. In addition, a donation of $1,400 worth of canned food and diapers was made to the food bank by ACE Hardware.

Businesses who supported the event through donations, discounts and/or labor include: Glacier Northwest-Seattle and Snoqualmie; Keith Crabtree Construction-North Bend; A&P Concrete-Fall City; Bella Art Works-North Bend; Claffey’s Painting-North Bend; Bob’s Electric-North Bend; Chinook Lumber-North Bend; North Bend Sand & Gravel; R&R Rentals-North Bend; Alpine Trophy and Signs-North Bend; and Southern Sales & Marketing-Atlanta, Ga.

Folks who provided food and beverages for the hard-working crew include: Frankie’s Pizza-North Bend; Sahara Pizza-Snoqualmie; Subway-North Bend; Blimpies-North Bend; Scott’s Dairy Freeze-North Bend; George’s Bakery-North Bend; Talking Rain-Preston; Zara Fritts-North Bend/Everett; Linda Wager-North Bend; and Carol and Chuck Peterson-Snoqualmie.

The following is a list of volunteers and the organizations they represented: John-Paul Likes, Nick Martindale and Carol Brock, Bella Arts Works; Ken Hearing and Karen Tavenner, city of North Bend; Kristi Wittress, North Bend Human Services; David Cook, Cook Real Estate; Paul Hermansen, Courtney Adams, Suzie Franson, Willie Munson, Don Culver, Pete Kerwin, Joe Peach and Valarie King, Mount Si Lutheran Church; Aljoseha (Allen) Satter, Cody Fisher, Heather Cross, Susan Henak and Owen Rooney, Helping Hands Food Bank; P.J. Rodriguez, city of Snoqualmie; Dan Loepke, North Bend Community Church; Jack Mathwig; James Schaffer, Snoqualmie Police Department; Brian Falzgraf, Heydi Daniels and Carlyle (Curt) Daniels, Claffey’s Painting; John Tedeschi, Optimal Transactions; Liz Antoch; Kerry Beymer and Hillary Lyon, Children’s Services of Sno-Valley; Jay Moore and Eugene Weathers, A&P Concrete; Laura Smart; and Matt Dowd, Lou Manfredini, Gordon Gaub, Carl Roy, Rick Rehm, Ray Meyers, Andy Whitman and Marcia Bennett-Reinert, ACE Hardware.

Marcia Bennett-Reinert

North Bend