About Us - Who We Are

Featured on the "HALLMARK Station", OPERATION: Sack Lunch is a meal and basic necessities provider serving the un-housed, no and low income, food insecure children, women, and men, who call Seattle their home. We are a grassroots project that began in 1989 with 30 lunches in the kitchen of founder, Singer / Song Writer, Beverly Graham.

OPERATION: Sack Lunch has now provided more than 2.9 million meals (hot meals and sack lunches). We currently serve 3 meals a day, seven days a week.

Our program has earned numerable awards of recognition:

the prestigious Jefferson Award for Humanitarian service ~ 1997
an international Giraffe Award ~ 1998
Woman of Distinction Award ~ 2000
the Mayor of Seattle's End Hunger Award ~ 2002
Thomas C. Wales Foundation Honoree ~ 2004
two Mayor of Seattle's End Hunger Awards ~ 2007
Hometown Hero ~ 2008

OPERATION: Sack Lunch is a unique provider. Those we serve are unable to access food in more conventional ways. We are the last line of defense for those in our community living directly on the streets. For many we are the only place to find a decent meal and the only way to ward off starvation.

OSL is recognized as a leader in nutritional quality, safety, and palatability.

We operate a non bio-toxic kitchen and serve food prepared with an organic ethic, using organic ingredients whenever possible. It is our belief that by providing the population we serve the most healthful food possible we will help eliminate, not only hunger, but health challenges as well.

The OSL mission statement is as imperative today as it was 22 years ago. Although we have served more than 2.9 million nutritionally dense meals since 1989 OSL has never been about simply making meals. Delivering nutritionally sound meals to food insecure populations is the physical indicator of our broader mission of providing dignity care and compassion to those in our community that need a little bit of extra help to navigate through life. Our presentations on discrimination awareness, hunger and homelessness, speaks to our commitment to ultimately honor our differences and embrace our responsibility towards one another. Finally, our organizational ethic is a model of love in action. We are determined to be instrumental in putting an end to homelessness, hunger, and hatred in our community and the world.

OSL is a pivotal link in the human service chain in Seattle. We are a direct service organization serving the homeless, transitional, low or no income, and food insecure community, providing 220,000 meals a year – 3 meals a day, seven days a week, 365 days per year. We serve a diverse population, directly on the street at the Outdoor Meal Site and provide meals for 5 area shelters, 3 youth programs, and the Municipal Court of Seattle Community Court program. OSL is a leader in Seattle’s emergency food system.

We are committed to being a part of the solution to alleviate, and indeed, to end hunger in our community. OSL provides nutritionally dense meals, made from quality ingredients that are local to the United States, with an organic ethic. We have since our inception, been faithful to this part of our mission, and have continued to educate ourselves; our staff and volunteers on food safety and nutrition. Our idea on serving the homeless community nutritionally sound food, at one time considered radical, is now the standard to set the nutritional gauge by. We specialize in dietary restrictions; diets for diabetics, auto immune deficiencies, and cardiovascular issues. We also provide food for vegetarians and gluten intolerant. Our staff has been trained in holistic and nutritionally sound practices and techniques.

We continue to be a lifeline of nutritional excellence for our most compromised citizens. As community builders we advocate acceptance, care, and radical compassion. Our work for the past 22 years has been responsible for many of the forward thinking and progressive attitudes of City government and other organizations around the safe food concept. Our tenacity and ability for respectful engagement has been the catalyst for institutional changes around food quality and access for food insecure populations, not only in Seattle but in other communities around the United States.