Boards approve plan to combine center, food bank

Spokane Valley Food Bank and Spokane Valley Community Center have pulled together after more than a year of negotiations.

Both boards approved the merger, alleviating fears that the food bank would leave the community center building.

“We need to move forward and put all the personal feeling behind us for the good of the community and that’s what we’re doing,” said Dick Solberg, a food bank board member and retired Union 582 officer.

The merger could give the agency added leverage when applying for grants.

It may also result in more fresh foods for low-income families and increased hours of operation.

“I think everyone eventually realized we need to do this,” said Allan Hanson, a community center board member.

Spokane Valley Community Center, 10814 E. Broadway Ave., houses a dozen social services, including the food bank, some of which operate independently.

The collaboration lets thousands of low-income people get assistance without having to drive from office to office.

The boards voted to combine the two agencies this week during separate meetings and despite rough patches where both sides considered opting out of the partnership.

After lawyers finish the paperwork, the 33-year-old food bank will come under the community center’s nonprofit status and be governed by a joint board.

The merger could help the facility fund food bank upgrades.

Second Harvest Inland Northwest – a food bank warehouse that serves 21 regional food banks – provides much of Spokane Valley Food Bank’s inventory.

The warehouse gets fewer canned and dried donations each year and more of its foods are produce, dairy and other fresh donations from local grocery stores.

Those perishable items require refrigeration and rapid distribution.

“We have to evolve with the times and I think that’s what we’ve managed to do here,” Solberg said.

The food bank operates with overhead of $67,437 with a paid director, Barbara Bennett, who organizes 350 volunteers. Solberg said community center board members expressed support for maintaining her position.

“They recognize that she’s a great resource and their intent is that she’ll continue there for some period of time.”

The decision to merge came after nearly 16 months of meetings, where the food bank board resisted losing its independence.

For a time, both sides were considering alternative plans in case the merger failed.

“I think you always have those dark times when you wonder what’s going to happen,” Hanson said.

The boards consulted with outside sources, including the director of Second Harvest Inland Northwest and the Spokane Valley Ministerial Association, to help determine how to best serve the clients.

Solberg said several ministers spoke to the food bank board, playing a key role in their decision to unify.

“They urged us to strongly consider staying in the one location and that had a strong influence on many of our board members,” Solberg said.

In the end, both boards made concessions and hammered out an agreement.

“They’ve been good people to work with,” Hanson said.

“Together I think everybody made the best decision for the people we’re serving.”

The merger creates a stronger identity for fund-raising in the community, because some people never knew the agencies were separate, Hanson said.

“It won’t be the confusion anymore about ‘What’s the food bank?’ and ‘What’s the Valley Community Center?’ ” he said.