Every Sunday, Albertsons manager John Gillespie and several locals compile and deliver food donations to the Union Gospel Mission in Seattle. Items include dairy and bakery products, cheese and canned goods — dairy products are the only donated items that are not expired. Albertsons has been delivering food to the Union Gospel Mission since the summer of 2009. It also donates to Friends of the Needy and Hopelink. During the holidays, the store helped feed nearly 800 people at Hopelink, Gillespie said.

“We unfortunately have lots of products that go out of date, and it’s important that we try to feed people with them,” said Gillespie, who noted that the store has been donating food for as long as it has been on the Island.

According to Gillespie, a regular customer brought the Union Gospel Mission’s need for donated food to the store’s attention. “They asked us if we could help. It just happens that on the weekend, we don’t have a regular pick-up for any of the women’s shelters that we go to, so we said yes, we could help.”