Jan. 3 — Food bank moves on up to the west side

The Puyallup Food Bank moves into new home, focus now on opening

Chris Albert / of the Herald

The Puyallup FISH Food Bank moved across town and will be opening its doors to clients in the coming weeks.

The move follows a year of turmoil for an organization unsure of where they would go after the Washington State Department of Transportation informed the city the building the food bank called home needed to be vacated and torn down by February 2008. The reason­: homeland security concerns about being located directly under State Route 512.

At the end of November the food bank began preparations to move to a former sports facility on West Stewart and closed its doors to clients on Dec. 15. The food bank is located in the west part of the building, while a batting cage facility operates in the east part of the building. They are only directly connected by a street entrance on West Stewart.

The plan is to have the food bank open to clients by mid to late January, said Food Bank Director Bill Franklin.

In the meantime, other area food banks in Sumner and South Hill have been providing food service to Puyallup clients. While the Puyallup food bank prepares itself for a mid-January opening, food bank workers have been distributing supplies to the other food banks. The new 9,200 square-foot facility will continue to provide distribution to other food banks after it opens. It is a function of the food bank that will be easier with more space, he said.

“It’s going to take some time to get all the ruts out,” Franklin said.

The food bank should be able to serve clients once some permitting issues are taken care of, he said. Installation of a sprinkler system above the walk-in freezer and refrigerator need to be completed before they can open.

Franklin hopes to have a plumber take care of the problem shortly, as well as any other requirements from Puyallup’s building inspector.

“The most important thing is to get the operation going again,” Franklin said.

The building provides about three times the space that was available at the old location. The set-up resembles a grocery store, with a lobby for clients, office space and a conference room upstairs and warehouse space.

Operation at the new facility will be much easier, Franklin said. At the old facility a fork lift was needed to move stacked pallets for volunteers to sort items, but at the new building there is enough space to avoid stacking pallets high.

The food bank will finally be able to make use of a walk in freezer and refrigerator after owning the equipment for more than two years, said Puyallup Councilmember George Dill, a food bank volunteer.

Another plus is that the building stays relatively warm compared to the old facility.

“After being in here (the building) for a while and then going out there (outside) it’s quite a shock,” he said.

Having a lobby will make a difference for clients, because they won’t have to stand outside when there is a rush like the old facility, he said. At the new facility there is more parking than at the East Main location, with its own parking lot on the west side of the building. The main entrance for the food bank is connected to the parking lot.

While there is still work to be done, some things have come together really well. The food bank was in need of garbage and recycling bins and Franklin recently found out that D.M. Disposal will donate them.

Donations, including $50,000 from Albertsons and help from various community members, made finding a home possible.

“They’ve all been instrumental in various degrees in keeping us going,” Franklin said.

A few month’s ago, Franklin contacted Jerry McMullen, who’s company was selling the West Stewart building, about touring the facility.

“Jerry really stepped up to the plate and he’s still stepping up to the plate,” Franklin said.

The food bank has a one-year lease with an option to buy. The building is for sale for approximately $865,000. The food bank can lock in a purchase for the facility by paying $25,000.

The service organization is dependent on donations to operate. When they first began looking for a facility last spring it was slow going in finding a facility.

Now that the food bank has a home the funds are needed to make it permanent.

“The generosity of people is what’s going to make it happen,” Dill said. “We’re not done yet. This is the tip of the iceberg.”

Before it was asking for donations to find a home, now it’s asking for funds to pay the bills, Dill said.

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Puyallup Food Bank

While the location has changed, hours of operation and the phone number remain the same. The current voice message refers clients to other area food banks and will be changed when the Puyallup food bank opens.

> New location: 239 West Stewart in Puyallup

> Phone number: 253-848-5240

> Hours: 1-3 p.m. Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday and Friday