Transform Burien – one of the seven non-profits which used to be housed at the soon-to-be-demolished Burien Annex – has found a new home at the former Sunnydale Elementary School building located at 15623 Des Moines Memorial Drive S. (map below).

The non-profit will serve its first meal there this Sunday, Aug. 2, outside the building, then every Sunday from 3 – 5 p.m. and every Wednesday and Friday from Noon – 2 p.m.

“We look forward to continuing to provide meals, food bank, clothing bank, and the Medical and Dental Vans during the same hours we have now,” organizers said.

The entire Transform Burien volunteer board and volunteer workers say they are “very excited that they are going to be able to continue to provide smiles, hope, unconditional love, meals, food and clothing banks, showers, laundry services, and access to spiritual and social services to Burien’s low income, unemployed, disabled, and homeless people!”

    • Transform’s food and clothing bank will open Aug. 9.
    • The medical van will be there Wednesday, Aug. 12.
    • They will serve lunches outside every Wednesday, until COVID-19 restrictions allow them to have inside dining.
    • The new building has a good kitchen, dining area, and plenty of rooms for all of the organization’s needs on the first floor.
    • The King County free Medical and Dental Vans will also be relocating from the Annex parking lot to the new site two Wednesdays a month.
    • They hope to expand their outreach to more families, youth and children, together with the Highline School District and Highline Schools Foundation, when pandemic social distancing restrictions are lifted and more volunteers are able to safely leave their homes.

“We have been searching all over Burien since January for affordable sites with the 5,000 square feet and parking we need for our program,” said Kathy Norquist, Interim Administrator/Administrative Assistant.

Norquist said that they first inquired with the Highline School District about using one of their unused school buildings early on, and finally heard back from them in April, with the help of Chris Craig, City of Burien Economic Development Manager and Casey Stanley, Burien City Parks Department Director.

“We have a lot of work to do cleaning, setting up rooms, painting, and making tenant improvements before we will be fully operational at Sunnydale,” Norquist added. “We appreciate the hundreds of local residents, businesses, and churches who have donated funds, supplies, and their time volunteering.”

DONATIONS & HOW TO HELP
After they are all settled in to the Sunnydale School, they will again be taking donations of gently used men’s, women’s, and children’s clothing of all sizes, as well as soft goods like blankets, sheets, towels, and sleeping bags.

“We especially need non-perishable food, toiletries, diapers, Depends, feminine hygiene products, and men’s and women’s clean, gently used athletic shoes, jeans, shorts, t-shirts, jackets, and new underwear.”

For more info, visit www.transformoutreach.org and Transform Burien’s Facebook page, or email [email protected] for updated information about making financial donations, and to find out our current needs for volunteer help and food and clothing supplies.

OTHER WAYS TO HELP
An additional way to help Transform is to sign up to be a partner with Transform Burien at Fred Meyer in Burien, at www.fredmeyer.com/i/community/community-rewards so that a small percentage of your purchase total is donated to them each quarter. Microsoft employees may also contribute to Transform and have their donations matched through their giving program, “Benevity.”

Restaurants who want to donate a meal for 100 people one day during the month of August would also be greatly appreciated, since they will not be able to cook at Sunnydale until they purchase and install new kitchen equipment.

“We are very thankful to Lavish Roots Catering, La Costa, Frankie’s Bistro, Rainier Coffee Company, Starbucks, Bakery Nouveau, Grand Central Bakery, Highline Food Bank, CVS, Bartells, Weight Watchers, Orowheat Bakery, Franz Bakery, Maverick Gaming and Wizards Casino, and the Seahawks Training Camp who have all contributed meals or food to us in the past.”

Organizers also want to give a huge “THANKS!” to the following volunteers who have served on their site tirelessly nearly every day since our former Directors Steven and Jennifer Cox moved to Georgia in December and many of our other regular volunteers needed to stay home to stay safe during the COVID 19 pandemic: Don and Charlotte Berg, Ron DeShayes, Chris Fredericksen, Al Glore, Greg Henken, Kathy Norquist, and Charles Schafer.

They also want to give a shout out to the pastors and volunteers from the following churches who have provided meals and other help year after year: Boulevard Park Church, Burien Evangelical Church, Burien (Methodist) Church, Deeper Church, Gathering Place, Glen Acres Church of Christ, Highline Christian Church, Hope Christian Community, John Knox Presbyterian, New Life Church/Burien Campus, Redemption Fellowship, Seattle Open Door Church, St. Francis Parish, Taproot Church, and Three Tree Church. We plan to continue to serve the most vulnerable people of our community for years to come by bringing practical help in their time of need and hope for a better future..

ABOUT TRANSFORM BURIEN
From their website:

“Christian Pastors decided to put minor theological differences aside and to gather to pray for Burien and each other. During their prayers Jesus impressed on them to take care of the poor and suffering in practical and tangible ways together as a united front of Christian churches in Burien. 17 years later we are still praying together and working in unity as one church in Burien for those in need.”

CONTACT:

 

Founder/Publisher/Editor. Three-time National Emmy Award winning Writer (“Bill Nye the Science Guy”), Director, Producer, Journalist and more...