Food Lifeline and Sea Mar Community Health Centers, Case example

About Food Lifeline and Sea Mar Community Health Centers

Founded in 1979, Food Lifeline is part of the national “Feeding America” network that assists in collecting food that would otherwise go to waste to provide meals to thousands of people across Western Washington. Food Lifeline rescues millions of pounds of this surplus food from farmers, manufacturers, grocery stores, and restaurants and focuses on a long term solution to hunger. Volunteers sort and repack this food in a 130,000-square-foot Hunger Solution Center, where it is distributed to more than 300 food banks, shelters, and meal programs throughout Western Washington, providing the equivalent of 97,000 meals every day to people in need. At the same time, Food Lifeline is working to activate allies and advocates to help shape policy, while partnering with organizations that are addressing the needs of low-income families.

Sea Mar Community Health Centers (Sea Mar) is a community based organization dedicated to providing comprehensive health, housing, and education services to diverse communities in Washington since 1978. Sea Mar’s network of services includes over 90 medical, dental, and behavioral health clinics.

Sea Mar and Food Lifeline partnered in 2017 to provide nutrient-dense, diabetes-appropriate foods to food-insecure diabetes patients through a mobile food market pilot program in Burien, WA.