After a long and productive history
of operating under Bayside Church’s 501(c)(3), ShareNet is now its own Washington State Nonprofit Corporation and celebrating 25 years of service to the community this year.
ShareNet began as a food closet at Bayside Church in 1993, meant to serve the needs of struggling church members. Bayside quickly realized need in our community went beyond their doors and was much larger than expected. Bayside purchased a trailer for the church parking lot to serve anyone who showed up. Word quickly got out, and the trailer itself was soon overwhelmed.
In 2007, ShareNet occupied its present site and opened a thrift store to assist in paying for an expanded operation, including rent. The move was well-timed because in 2008 ShareNet’s client base doubled, then went from 2,000 annual services to over 12,000 in just a few years, increasing every year for most of the next decade, topping 16,000 services in 2016. In 2010, we busted through a wall and added nearly 1,000 square feet for food bank operations. The extra room helped, though we remain space-challenged.
During its history, ShareNet decided to go the official route, ensuring it met the partner criteria for membership in the Washington Food Coalition, the Kitsap County Food Bank Coalition, Northwest Harvest, Food Lifeline, and state and federal programs. Participation in these networks increases paperwork and infrastructure needs, but also leverages the assistance a food bank can provide to its community. Through these networks, ShareNet became the registered food bank for northernmost Kitsap, serving Kingston, Hansville, Indianola, Port Gamble, Eglon and Little Boston, as well as some border addresses in Poulsbo and Suquamish.
As Bayside Church became a leaner operation with fewer employees, the time became right for ShareNet to become an independent 501(c)(3). Bayside Church has given an incredible gift to those in need in our community, and we wish we could name every one of the folks there who contributed in some way to creating and operating ShareNet over the years. Two of the most significant are Barbara Brumagin and Bernard Delettrez.
Brumagin was a Bayside employee for 23 years who took a very active role in making ShareNet. She served as board secretary, and acted as the administrative liaison between the separately located entities. But really Barb was so much more than that; she was a motivational force who saw needs in the community and within the organization and made things happen, everything from bringing speaker John Maxwell to Kitsap for a ShareNet fundraiser to running our annual Christmas Toy Shop benefiting local kids. Barb now resides in Arizona, but remains committed to ShareNet from afar.
In his capacity as the go-to board member and treasurer, Bernard “Bernie” Delettrez has probably committed more unpaid hours to ShareNet than anyone else. It wouldn’t be too much to say that beyond the onsite staff, volunteers and community who support our mission, Bernie has been the most important influence in making ShareNet a strong organization. Bernie leads by great example, always pressing through until tasks are complete, no matter how much work it takes. He’s been an important person in all our lives at ShareNet including the folks we serve, one of those community builders who works quietly behind the scenes to make something great.
With his retirement from ShareNet duties on the horizon, we can’t take him for granted anymore, and we are well aware how much he’s contributed to our operation. We celebrate Bernie and all the great people over the last 25 years who have made a difference through ShareNet.
