Food bank gets ready for extra need

Staff members at Spokane Valley Partners are bracing themselves for what could be a huge increase in families seeking help now that the St. Vincent de Paul food bank has closed its doors.

“They were doing 27 percent of all the food bank business in Spokane County,” said development director Don Kaufman. The food bank run by Spokane Valley Partners just got a list of 153 families living in the area they serve that used to get their food from St. Vincent. If 100 of those families visit the food bank once a month, it will be a 12 to 15 percent increase in the number of households served, he said.

The food bank is open on Wednesdays and by appointment on Thursdays. If a large surge of new users develops, they will look at being open longer hours, said food bank director Barbara Bennett.

This time of year is traditionally a slow one for donations. There’s usually a surge of giving in November and December, which food banks can stockpile to some extent. But the food eventually runs out. “People eat every day, not just on the holidays,” Bennett said. “As of half an hour ago I didn’t have a box of cereal in the building.”

As quickly as food is donated, it goes out the door. With a very limited amount of cooler space, perishables such as milk and other dairy items must be given out quickly.

Empty shelves this time of year aren’t just a local phenomenon. A Rhode Island man named Alan Feinstein set up a give-away more than a decade ago to provide matching funds for participating food banks based on how many donations they receive during March and April. The Feinstein Challenge, now in its 11th year, provides $1 million for the effort.

Donations to food banks can include money and food items, which will be assigned a value of $1 per pound. The amount given to the food banks by Feinstein ranges from $250 to $50,000, depending on how many food banks participate and how much each organization collects in donations.

“What it does more than anything is stimulate local giving,” Kaufman said, because people like the idea of getting an extra bang for their buck.

Any nonperishable food item is welcome, while basic items such as tuna and peanut butter are always needed. Right now there is a need for cereal; it’s not unusual for the food bank to go through 200 boxes a week, Bennett said.

The food bank is also trying to expand by building a new warehouse next door. The current food bank storage area spans 1,200 square feet in the Valley Partners basement. Each box has to be unloaded by hand and put on a conveyor belt that carries it to the basement. The new building will be 4,300 square feet with a loading dock and additional cooler space.

Valley Partners received a $260,000 grant from the state for the project but is required to provide $90,000 in matching funds. So far the organization has raised $10,000, said Kaufman. The food bank has applied for grants, but more donations are needed to get the project under way. “We hope that the project is wrapped up by October,” Kaufman said.