More than 1,700 guests at Redmond-based Hopelink’s annual Reaching Out Benefit Luncheon heard best-selling author of The Glass Castle, Jeannette Walls, talk about growing up in poverty, the impact it had on her life, and how organizations such as Hopelink provide a critical safety net for parents, their children, and many others in our community facing hunger and homelessness. The October 15 event at Bellevue’s Meydenbauer Center raised nearly $1.1 million to help local families in crisis become self-sufficient.