McCrorie Carpet One Staff Offers Nourishment To Neighbors

Jason Thompson hasn’t forgotten his childhood days, when more often than not, food on the family table was scarce. In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, times have proven equally tough for his  neighbors currently living and working in greater Port Angeles, WA, but Jason and his colleagues at McCrorie Carpet One Floor & Home haven’t forgotten the importance of helping others. The local flooring co-op has long been a supporter of the regional United Way, as well as the Port Angeles Food Bank.

“I am fortunate to have found myself in a career and livelihood that can provide enough for my family and enough to help others,” Jason said. “It is very clear to me now, looking back, that the help provided to me inspired me to take action when my community needs assistance.”

Joining forces with Country Aire Natural Foods, a local food co-op, McCrorie Carpet One has been working tirelessly to ensure that struggling community members, many of them faced with barren shelves in their local markets, can still access household necessities like flour, milk, and eggs.The partnership was rife with challenges, as the truck containing essential food items experienced setbacks, forcing a delayed delivery, but the team wasn’t deterred.

Jason, a member of McCrorie’s Retail Sales Professional Council, also owns the Fogtown Coffee Bar. In March, the café began serving breakfast and lunch to local schoolchildren- many of whom would have otherwise gone hungry with schools no longer in session. “I offer these meal options 24/7 with no questions or limitations,” Jason noted. The program, which has since been extended to serve anyone in need regardless of age, currently feeds up to 80 people a day.

Jason’s coffee shop would ultimately go on to partner with another local eatery, Sergio’s Mexican Restaurant, to fill another notable community void. “Having been a 15-year hospitality worker prior to flooring, I was dismayed at the amount of time it was taking to get unemployment benefits to the many families affected by restaurant and hotel closures, many of whom have been flooring clients,” he added. The two restaurants have since been working collaboratively to ensure that no hospitality worker goes hungry, providing meals to anyone in need, along with their families.

“During these unprecedented times, normalizing the need for help and widening the access to it gives us the dignity we need to carry on,” Jason said. ”We have all been uprooted and shaken on one level or another, and need to find out how and where we can connect with one another.”