Celeste Ackerbloom

Hopelink is a nonprofit organization working to end poverty in our community. Each year we help more than 64,000 low-income people through programs that provide stability and the skills and knowledge needed to exit poverty. Since 1971, Hopelink has provided support services to people in need in north and east King County and transportation services in King and Snohomish Counties in Washington state. We are a Community Action Agency with programs and services ranging from food banks, energy assistance and housing to literacy training and employment skills, transportation and family development. Hopelink is based in Redmond, Washington, with service centers and food banks in Bellevue, Kirkland, Redmond, Sno-Valley (Carnation) and Shoreline. In addition to ongoing programs and services, Hopelink also manages several campaigns specifically geared toward helping children: End Summer Hunger helps ensure that kids on summer break have enough to eat when their school's free and reduced fee meals are not available; Kids Need School Supplies provides backpacks and back-to-school tools for kids in low-income families; and Lend a Hoping Hand provides holiday gift rooms where parents and grandparents can "shop"​ for toys and gifts. Annual events include Hopelink Can Madness -- a bracketed tournament between local businesses to help stock food banks following the holidays; an annual October fundraising luncheon at Meydenbauer Center in Bellevue (attended by about 1,800 guests every year); and the Turkey Trot 5K Family Fun Run & Walk on the Sunday before Thanksgiving. Every year, nearly 4,000 volunteers donate over 62,000 hours; helping people and changing lives.