Sid and Hilda Andrews prefer to remain low key about their volunteer work, but their efforts to feed the hungry have earned them a Foss Home and Village Senior Appreciation Award.

Five days a week, Sid drives to grocery stores and food outlets to pick up donations. He delivers the surplus food to the Greenwood Food Bank, Ballard Food Bank, Compass Cascade Women's Shelter and the Calvary Lutheran Church's Soup Kitchen.

Last week Sid drove as far as Mill Creek and Renton to pick up meat, potatoes and frozen food.

"We don't care for slaps on the back. We have helped people all our lives and don't care who they are," said Sid.

In 2002, the couple formed a non-profit organization they call Fallen Brothers. The name is a reference to the many war veterans Sid saw lining up at food bank and feeding programs.

"There are a lot of veterans at food banks and there will be a lot more. The economy and this war will bring a lot more. We will need help from the community," said Sid.

"Life is hard sometimes. We try to support veterans, there are so many of them," said Sid.

Hilda devotes much of her time sorting food donations at their north Seattle home while Sid does most of the driving.

"I just like being in the background," said Hilda.

Both of the Andrews are 82 years old. They have been married for 62 years.

Sid is a retired steam engineer. Hilda said she has done so many jobs in her lifetime that she can't begin to list them.

Sid has keys to the walk in freezers at the Ballard and Greenwood food banks. He often takes food directly to those locations.

Other foods like the eggs he picked up from the Grocery Outlet on Aurora recently are in one of four freezer/refrigerators in the basement of the Andrew's home.

A shelf is lined with canned chili, sweet peas, pasta sauce and soup, grouped accordingly.

Sid's biggest load that he stuffed into his 1985 Chevrolet Suburban was 3,650 pounds of butter from a single donor.

The couple works on Sundays, Mondays, Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Fridays. They take Thursday and Saturday off.

They have been cutting back on their volunteer time due to age. "We are getting older. We need to live too," Hilda said.

Volunteers at the Greenwood Food Bank are picking up the slack as the Andrews couple begins to take it easy.

The Andrews started as volunteers at the Ballard Food Bank and Calvary's Soup Kitchen. It was not long until they realized there was not enough food to hand out.

"I had connections and started scrounging around," said Sid.

When he approached grocery stores, he found they were reception to making donations of food they would otherwise toss out.

"Some groceries throw out meat in dumpsters. There are a lot of hungry people out there," said Sid.

A music cd they helped produce, "When Brothers Fall," features a song written by their grandson Matt Coolidge.

Coolidge wrote the song while in a foxhole in the first Iraq war. He was in Kuwait when seven of his fellow soldiers were killed.

Ten thousand copies of "When Brothers Fall," have been distributed to six foreign countries, including Iraq. It is played at Arlington National Cemetary during services.

The song was played at a memorial in New York City after the September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Then mayor Rudy Giuliani, who is now running for president, wrote a thank to the Andrews.

Sid and Hilda reluctantly agreed to accept their Senior Appreciation award, one of many they have received in the past.

"I don't see why we are getting it. All we are doing is supporting the troops and the needy," said Sid.

The Foss Home and Village Senior Appreciation Award ceremony is on September 14 at the Bitterlake Community Center, 13005 Linden Avenue N. from 3:30-5 p.m. The event is held in conjunction with Mayor Greg Nickels' October Senior Appreciation Week.

The Fallen Brothers website is http://www/fallen-brothers.org. Donations of food, clothing and any usable household items are accepted. Food and monetary donations can be dropped off at the QFC store on Holman Road where there is a barrel and donation can marked Fallen Brothers.

Dean Wong may be contacted at 783.1244 or deanw@robinsonnews.com