Tokens for Tomorrow Recipients: April – June 2021

Each quarter, Skagit Valley Food Co-op selects four Tokens for Tomorrow recipients. With Tokens for Tomorrow, every time you bring in a reusable shopping bag, we honor your commitment to reducing waste with a token worth 5¢ to give to four local organizations doing great things for our community. Get to know 2021’s 2nd Quarter Tokens for Tomorrow Recipients:

Helping Hands Food Bank

The mission of the Helping Hands Food Bank is to nourish the community with kindness and without judgment. In 2020, Helping Hands fed over 700,000 individuals throughout Skagit County.

Through its 13 distribution sites, the expansion of the mobile food program, and removed restrictions from its C.H.O.W. (Cutting Hunger On Weekend, also known as the Children's Backpack Weekend Meal Program), Helping Hands is currently feeding an average of 6,000 families each week.

Helping Hands is more than a food bank though, helping families in crisis create pathways to solutions. Through the navigation team with the resource and programs department, Helping Hands identifies and works with families and individuals to create meaningful results.

Northwest Youth Services

Northwest Youth Services is a non-profit organization serving young people ages 13-24 experiencing homelessness in Whatcom, Skagit, and Island Counties. It supports youth in identifying goals and building the skills necessary to reach their own sense of stability.

Northwest Youth Services offers housing, street outreach, assistance in finding a job or enrolling in school, connection to mental health services, support for LGBTQ youth, restorative justice for juvenile offenders, and referrals to other services in the community.

Reach Out & Read

Reach Out & Read (ROR) believes that all families should have the tools and information they need to make reading aloud a daily routine. ROR is an evidence-based school readiness program that seeks to provide young children with a foundation for success though the powerful effects of reading and sharing a story with a loved one.

To facilitate this, Reach Out & Read partners with doctors and nurses to incorporate books into children’s routine pediatric care visits and encourages families to read together.

Skagit Land Trust

Skagit Land Trust works with partners and the public to protect and restore wildlife habitats, agricultural and forest lands, scenic open space, wetlands, and shorelines for the benefit of the community and as a legacy for future generations of people and wildlife. The Trust engages people of all ages to care for, connect with, and learn about the natural lands that make the Skagit Valley so special.

The Trust’s Conservation Classrooms program allows youth across Skagit County to develop a sense of place, learn to value conservation and the plants and animals living in the community and gain the physical, social, and emotional benefits of time in nature.

Reuse. Rinse. Repeat.

We're happy to welcome back the Tokens for Tomorrow Program! Every time you reuse your bag, you’re giving back. How many times have you given back? How many times have you reused your bag? Probably too many to count, and we are so grateful for your efforts.

Now, how many times have you reused your bag since you washed it last? Chances are, probably too many times to count. So, please remember to wash your bags to help keep everyone’s food safe and clean. And thanks again for reusing your bag!