A new sculptural donor tree has made its way to the Rainier Valley Food Bank, thanks to eight Sawhorse youth, builder-artist Jen Agniak Wood, and SR Program lead Mateo Rudich! Students met at the Food Bank to make key design decisions, and then worked for a week, over their Spring Break, at Sawhorse HQ and Shop to do everything from carving “beads” for the tree branches to demo’ing, planing, cutting, and staining pallet shingles to creating the cutest dang bench we ever did see. This project reflects the joy, movement, and music of the Rainier Valley Food Bank, which serves thousands of families every month with warm, inviting meals, opportunities to “grocery shop” and food deliveries at home to families who aren’t feeling safe due to the current political climate. Students also reflected on the nature of nutrients in a tree, learned about 100 advanced carpentry techniques, and shared meals and laughter around the worktable for their spring break.

This donor tree has touched the community of Rainier Valley and is a beautiful display of gratitude for all of the contributors that keep the food bank going strong.

Huge thanks to Operation Sack Lunch for donating healthy meals, to LMN Architects for all of the help laser-cutting the donor names, and to Adam Hunter for partnering with us and getting such fabulous shots of our work!