Help Sugar Shack Espresso raise 4,000 pounds of food in three days

This year, from Nov. 1-3, Rick Henry is once again vowing not to leave Sugar Shack Espresso for three days to accept food donations, with the goal of raising 4,000 pounds of food for the food bank.

CHICO — “I started three years ago with the goal in mind to raise 500 pounds worth of food in three days. That first day, I raised 1,100 pounds.”

Rick Henry’s Knock Out Hunger! Food Drive, hosted at his business Sugar Shack Espresso, has been wildly successful.

By the end of the inaugural food drive three years ago, Henry said over 1,500 pounds of food was donated.

“The second year, I had a 2,000-pound goal,” he said. “I reached 2,100 pounds within 15 hours.”

Last year, they raised about 3,500 pounds of food for the Central Kitsap Food Bank, of which Henry became a board member in early 2016.

And this year, from Nov. 1-3, Henry is once again vowing not to leave Sugar Shack Espresso for three days to accept food donations, with the goal of raising 4,000 pounds of food for the foodbank.

“It’s a fun challenge,” he said. “I think of it that way: It’s a challenge to help out a small business owner and also help out the community.”

Henry added that last year’s food drive “pretty much took care of all the Thanksgiving need for the Central Kitsap Food Bank.”

Every year for the food drive, Henry remains in the espresso stand, located at 3588 Chico Way NW, Bremerton. He said he adopts a persona, ‘Slick Rick,’ and takes photos with the community members who drop off food.

And for those who feel like they can’t manage to make it to Sugar Shack during the food drive, Henry has a suggestion: Gather a group of people wanting to help out, and nominate one or two members of that group to drop off all the food to ensure it makes it in time. However, Henry said Sugar Shack Espresso accepts food donations year-round.

Non-perishable food is loaded into a truck for delivery to Central Kitsap Foodbank after Sugar Shack Espresso raised more than 3,500 pounds of food in November 2015. Photo courtesy of Sugar Shack Espresso

“I’m in a position in my life where I can give back,” Henry said. “We did a clothes drive, too, the (first) year. I just kind of felt like it was important for my kids to learn they have a lot to be thankful for, to really just to get them to understand how lucky they have it, and that there’s a lot of people less fortunate than us.”

New to this year’s food drive are what Henry is calling the “power hours.” Henry said he will personally match all food donations given during the designated hours. Those hours are not finalized yet, though he’s planning one around 11 a.m. to noon, and one from 4-5 p.m. Official hours will be posted on the company’s Facebook page, www.face book.com/sugarshackchico.

“Each year that we do (the food drive), it gets kind of emotional, because it’s just kind of amazing,” Henry said. “It’s a lot of fun. A lot of cool people come out.”

Henry said he chose this time of year because the holiday season is “one of the biggest strains” on the food bank, especially with Thanksgiving less than a month away.

“It’s really easy to give back during this time of year,” he said. “I picked this time of year because it was easy to get people excited about it.”

He said he also hopes to do a food drive in summer 2017, in addition to his annual November drive, because the end of the school year also marks a time of especially high demand of food from the food bank.

Henry said the community response to his food drives has been “super positive.”

“(Customers are) like my family,” Henry said. “Without my customers in the community, I would not be here. I would not have the opportunity to do this kind of stuff.”

Help Sugar Shack Espresso Knock Out Hunger Nov. 1, 2 and 3 by donating canned and non-perishable food items at the coffee stand, located at 3588 Chico Way NW, Bremerton. For more information, www.facebook.com/sugarshack chico.