Westminster Chapel raises $17,000 for Piggy Parade

Hundreds of plastic piggy banks lined the stage steps at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue on a recent Sunday morning. The piggies, each decorated with stickers, paints, and fun-spirited costumes, were filled with loose change and dollars collected by members of Westminster.

By Lindsay Larin • November 24, 2008 11:08 pm
Gabriella Van Breda of World Impact Network and Westminister Chapel Senior Pastor Gary Gulbranson hold some of the decorated piggy banks that church members used to collect funds to feed the needy.
Gabriella Van Breda of World Impact Network and Westminister Chapel Senior Pastor Gary Gulbranson hold some of the decorated piggy banks that church members used to collect funds to feed the needy.

Hundreds of plastic piggy banks lined the stage steps at Westminster Chapel in Bellevue on a recent Sunday morning. The piggies, each decorated with stickers, paints, and fun-spirited costumes, were filled with loose change and dollars collected by members of Westminster.

The church members took home the plastic piggy banks in hope of raising money to benefit The Renewal Food Bank, part of Northwest Harvest’s hunger relief network. A total of 550 piggy banks were handed out to members of the church.

Even as the piggy banks continue to trickle in, Westminster Chapel has helped to raise roughly $17,000 dollars to go towards providing food and supplies for the homeless on the Eastside.

The Renewal Food Bank is a project of the World Impact Network, a local non-profit that works to meet the needs of the poor locally and globally to help restore human dignity. In order to meet the rising demands of food security for hungry families living in Bellevue, World Impact Network has implemented the ‘Piggy Parade’ fund raising campaign. The Renewal Food Bank is located in the back parking lot of Bellevue Foursquare Church.

Gabriella Van Breda of World Impact Network thanked the congregation of Westminster Chapel for their generosity in the trying economic time.

“There is no doubt that Westminster Chapel has a tremendous global impact,” Van Breda said and then addressed the church. “What I appreciate most about you is the fact that you care about your very own community and you have shown that very clearly by partnering with us to support renewal food bank.”

Through the ‘Piggy Parade’ fund raising campaign, WIN hopes to collect $50,000 worth of loose change by the end of December from the support of individual donors, businesses and schools. The money raised will go directly towards supplying food and increased storage space for the food bank.

“Last year we fed 25,000 people in this community and, as you can imagine in the current economic climate, the need has grown tremendously,” Van Breda explained to the Westminster congregation. “So we were absolutely thrilled this year when you decided to step up to the plate this year and join the piggy parade.”

The Renewal Food Bank continues to collect the plastic piggy banks with the hope of reaching their goal by the first of the year.

Anyone interested in joining the ‘Piggy Parade’ should call 425-643-8246 or visit www.worldimpactnetwork.org. The Renewal Food Bank is located at 2015 Richards Road, Bellevue and hours of operation are Monday 9 a.m. to noon and 4:30 to 6:30 p.m.; and Wednesday 9 a.m. to noon.

Lindsay Larin can be reached at llarin@reporternewspapers.com or 425-453-4602.