With the promise of longer days and the planning for the future that is inherent as a new year approaches, for me at least, this time of year comes with a lot of pause and reflection, both personally and as the executive director of the Vashon Food Bank.

The silver lining of a recently broken right fibula is that I’ve had plenty of time to reflect on the many different lenses one can use to capture the role the Vashon Food Bank plays in the community at large.

One lens shows the Vashon Food Bank as a small but important player in the nation’s broader economic and food systems. According to the Consumer Price Index, the cost of consumer goods and services rose 7.7% from October 2021 to October 2022, and groceries are up 12.4% year-over-year with staples such as cereals, breads and dairy up nearly 16%.

These cost increases have a tangible impact on households that may have already been struggling. Food banks across the country are seeing increases in demand, and, at the same time, working to find innovative solutions to provide nutritious, culturally appropriate food in ways that are accessible and dignified.

Another lens shows the food bank as one of the island’s many nonprofit social-service organizations that are facing the trifecta of increased demand, increased cost of goods and donation streams that are decreasing back down to pre-pandemic levels. Over the past several years, these shared challenges among organizations in Vashon’s Social Service Network (VSSN) have led to increased inter-agency collaboration, communication and strategic thinking.

Another lens shows the Vashon Food Bank as a vital part of the island’s social safety net and a community gathering place where people can find nutritious food and connections to other empowering resources, including each other.

Customer feedback consistently reinforces that people appreciate not only the variety and quantity of food that we’re able to offer — but also the sense of security and community they feel in knowing that someone is looking out for them.

Recently, a customer wrote, “I am deeply grateful for the great service and steady help from our Vashon Food Bank. I look forward to the wonderful few minutes of kindness and good cheer my delivery person brings each week to my semi-seclusion.”

This statement perfectly captures that the food bank has a very quantifiable impact by offering over 500,000 pounds of food to nearly 1,800 islanders every year and another less quantifiable, but no less important impact of fostering compassion and community-belonging.

Another lens shows the Vashon Food Bank as one of many assets to the community. It is social support that builds people up during times of stress and often gives them the strength to carry on and then thrive. The Vashon Food Bank offers people nutritious food and connections to resources they need so that they are able to share their own assets, the valuable gifts they carry, with the broader community.

Just as the food bank is an asset to the community, so is every customer, volunteer and donor.

Maybe the asset that you bring to the community is a skilled trade, exemplary customer service in your chosen industry, a musical or artistic talent that you’re able to share with others, or the ability to elicit an easy smile from anyone you encounter.

More likely, is that each of us brings multiple assets to the community, and we choose to share them based on the need of any given moment.

If life affords you the time to pause and reflect on the assets you bring for yourself, your personal network and the community at large, and if one of those assets happens to be financial, I hope you are able to make a contribution to one of the island’s critical social service organizations.

Regardless, cheers to a new year full of hope and potential for strengthening the community around us.

Emily Scott is the executive director of the Vashon Food Bank.