Meet Our Members - Southeast Tacoma FISH Food Bank

FISH Food Banks coordinate 7 different food bank locations across Pierce County, seeking to meet the growing need of families facing hunger in their community.

Their Southeast Tacoma FISH Food Bank is the busiest of them all, serving about 340 families every day that they're open (Mon: 11am-4 pm. Wed: 11 am-6 pm. Fri: 11 am-4 pm). The growing numbers in the last several years caused this location to more than double the size of their space, and even still they are busting at the seams.

This picture shows the pallets that the volunteers move outside every morning and inside every evening (stored in the aisleways of the food bank) because their space is so full. At the time, they had 42 pallets being moved regularly. However, these mounds of food will be gone and need to be replenished within a matter of days with the high volume of clients coming through their doors.

This location is bustling with happy, fulfilled volunteers and clients being treated with dignity in their family atmosphere. This is the 2nd year that they've brought in Santa during the holidays to bring even more cheer to those who come through the door!

Click here to learn more about the wonderful network of FISH Food Banks in Pierce County.
Click here to read a recent article in The News Tribune about this food bank.


Visitors at the food bank are able to receive clothes and other items in the clothing bank at the same site.

Fantastic volunteers: when asked if they minded having their picture taken, they responded "Only if we can keep working."


Danny Kiourkas, Food Bank Coordinator, and Phil Membrere, faithful volunteer, make sure things keep running at the food bank no matter what the demands.


The food bank upgraded to a shopping method several years ago, giving their clients the opportunity to choose appropriate foods for their families' needs.


Santa brings cheer to every child that visits the food bank.


Joni, one of many faithful volunteers, enjoys helping clients get checked in at the food bank.

Follow Up: Statement from Children's Alliance on SFA cut

The State Food Assistance Program is a vital resource for 14,000 Washington residents who do not qualify for federal food stamps. These individuals comprise 1.4% of the one million plus people in our state currently receiving food assistance through Basic Food. This vital nutritional safety net is second only to Unemployment Insurance as the most effect counter-recessionary tool we have in times of lingering economic slowdown, like the present time.

The Governor has proposed eliminating funding for this program in her Supplemental and Biennial Budget proposals. Program elimination will affect a total of 31,000 people living in households that currently receive state food assistance benefits. One-half of these people are children. Loss of a critical part of family resources for food means a rise in food insecurity and childhood hunger.

We strongly urge the legislature to save the State Food Assistance Program in its current form.

The program piggy-backs on the federal Basic Food (food stamp) Program which is delivered through DSHS Community Service Offices. Administrative costs are low -- only 2% of the total program administration in these offices.

Benefits are spent in community grocery stores. USDA has found that for each $5 of benefits spent, a total of $9 of economic activity is generate in the community.

Retaining the current program structure is a key priority. While benefits may be reduced due to the state's revenue shortfall, retention of the program would allow restoration of benefits in future years.

The Governor has proposed investing part of the funds saved from eliminating the program in February 2011 in a $3 billion increase in funding to community food banks for the remainder of this biennium and a $15 million increase in funding for food banks next biennium. Food banks are an excellent resource for hungry families in Washington; the current state investment provides cost-effective food assistance in all areas of the state.

However, the State Food Assistance Program is a well-targeted and effective program with a cost-effective administrative structure. Recipients of the program live primarily in King, Snohomish and Pierce Counties. Loss of the program will have a particular impact there AND at the local grocery stores frequently by recipients.

In conclusion, we urge the legislature to quickly affirm that the State Food Assistance Program structure should be retained in the Supplemental and Biennial budgets.

childrensalliance.org

Press Release from WFC on SFA cut

Contact: Julie Washburn Phone: (206) 910-7150

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE 1 P.M. PST, December 15th, 2010

Seattle, Washington, December 15^th, 2010: Washington Food Coalition is opposed to the elimination of State Food Assistance and believes that the trade-off of putting more money into food banks is the wrong choice. Governor Gregoire proposes providing an additional $15 million to food banks around the state to make up for the elimination of $60 million in food stamp benefits, and she suggests that nonprofits and the faith-based organizations will need to step up to be the sole safety net for people in need. However, when it comes to ending hunger, we simply cannot do it alone.

While our Coalition members fight on tirelessly, doing everything in our power to help people have nutritious food to eat, we continue to watch the problem of hunger in our communities grow. WSDA food programs have seen a 27% increase over the past 3 years.

In addition, according to the 2010 Hungry in Washington Report released by the Children’s Alliance, one in seven households (14.7%) in our state struggled to put enough food on the table—the highest rate since the USDA began recording this figure in 1995.

Local food banks and meal programs are already stretched beyond capacity as they have seen visits increasing and donations decreasing due to the recession. The charitable hunger response system alone cannot adequately provide for the increased numbers of people in need that we will see from the elimination of this and other basic safety net programs.

The services food banks provide are not a like for like replacement for the loss of food stamp dollars. Indeed, they are supplemental services, and many families rely on both to have enough to eat. When Governor Gary Locke and the legislature created the State Food Assistance Program in 1997, a variety of delivery systems were considered. The unanimous view of the emergency food system then was that reaching individuals no longer eligible for federal food stamps through the state’s emergency food network would be very difficult. Emergency food infrastructure continues to differ across the state. A food stamp look-alike program was the best choice for addressing the sudden loss of federal food stamps and spending of these food benefits in local grocery stores assures $9 in local economic impact for every $5 spent.

Food stamps are dollars that provide people with choices; important for dietary-specific or culturally relevant food they need that they may not be getting at their local food bank. Food stamps also allow the flexibility of being used at any convenient time that local stores are open, whereas food banks and meal programs are limited in their abilities for open hours. Lastly, food stamps also have a positive economic impact—for every $5 in benefits spent at local grocery stores, $9 in local economic activity is generated.

Free Legal Resource for Clients

Legal Voice offers free legal resources for your clients in need.

Visit their website at LegalVoice.org to learn more and click here to download FREE Legal Voice handouts for your clients in multiple languages!

Meet Our Members - ForKids program at Thurston County Food Bank

Want to learn more about what it takes to start and run a school backpack program? Cheryl Falkenburg, of the ForKids program at Thurston County Food Bank, shares what it took for them to make this best practice happen:

I was hired by the Food Bank to manage this project in 2007. This was a pilot program and we focused on homeless children in the elementary schools, Preschool - 6th grade plus siblings. We assembled bags at the food bank with a weekend worth of meals (1 hot cereal packet, one cold cereal, one shelf stable milk, one real fruit juice, two fruit cups, cup of soup, easy mac, granola bar, snack cracker with cheese or peanut butter and two protein items). We created an assembly line and used plastic grocery bags (used for the most part and picked up from the recycle at grocery stores), passed the bag down the tables where the food items were sitting in banana boxes (the packaging tool the Food Bank uses for everything) and when the bag got to the end of the table (past all of the items), it was double knotted and placed in a banana box (six bags/banana box), six banana boxes per level, on a pallet.

I have a crew come in weekly and build my bags for the next week. (if the numbers were smaller, I could build for two weeks, but we served 1106 children last week and this number keeps growing)

I contacted all of the schools in our area (we have four school districts we work with). It is helpful if the school district has a homeless liaison, or home visitor specialist. Our first point of contact with the school district was the Public Information Officer and/Homeless Liaison. We shared our idea of identifying the homeless children in their school (the counselors generally know who they are) and having bags delivered to the schools where the counselors would discreetly distribute the bags (place them in the child's backpack) from their office or somewhere else private. Once we had all of the homeless children identified, counselors started telling us of other children who were always hungry and asking for food. These children are usually the ones on the Free and Reduced Lunch Program. So, now the counselors send home a letter to the children on that list and ask the family if their child(ren ) could benefit from this service. Weekly, the counselors fill out a form we created that shows grade level, gender and new/returning students (Our executive director uses this information to write grants).

This program is an expensive program, but we have a board and staff who are extremely committed to ending hunger in our neighborhood and have supported the growth. This program is also one that garners support and donations because hungry children tug at our heart strings. Since the children are often alone at home, of varying age and ability, the food needs to be serving size and easy for them to fix on their own. This necessitates a more expensive type of product. We don't get enough food through donations, so I have to purchase pallets of food from wholesale stores. I purchase shelf stable milk - two pallets at a time...

Naturally, we didn't start that first year off serving 1100 children a week, we started off small - limiting the school district to a finite number we could afford and defining the recipient as "homeless". I have over 150 volunteers who come in monthly to package, sort food, assemble the school's orders and drive the food to the schools. In the beginning, I didn't need that many, but that need has grown as well, plus I never have a problem finding people to help the children.

We started out serving only elementary schools, but have created a pantry model for middle schools. Another organization serves the High Schools, but a pantry model would work great there as well. For older children, it is nice to be able to make choices, and also I have larger containers - like a soup size Ravioli instead of microwavable size Ravioli cup.

I guess the best place to start would be to find out the need, then go to the Food Bank and see if they have the $$ means to support it. Or, if the Food Bank can't support it you might consider asking a church. I do have a large church that I give my list of food items to and the congregation collects the items and they assemble bags at the church and bring me the bags - they do about 44 a month.

The YWCA Other Bank approached me and asked if they could assemble hygiene kits and bring them down. I let them know my numbers and they work hard to get me kits as often as possible. We also partner with South Sound Reading Foundation. I give them my numbers and they assemble books appropriate to the age/gender and take them to the schools where the kids get a free book.

So, the sky is the limit on the great things that can come from a program like this.

Special by TV Tacoma: Washington Food Coalition in Pierce County and Beyond

Meet Our Members - Food Lifeline

Food Lifeline is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger in Western Washington. Food Lifeline makes every penny count, and 94% of the food they receive from local, state and national contributors is donated.

Working to End Hunger

Last year, Food Lifeline secured more than 31 million pounds of food – the equivalent of more than 24 million meals – to feed hungry people throughout Western Washington. Food Lifeline provides food to over 686,000 people through their network of nearly 300 emergency feeding programs including food banks, hot meal programs and shelters. 96 cents of every dollar they receive goes directly toward feeding these hungry people.

Innovative Solutions

Food Lifeline provides a creative link between foo

d sources and hungry people. They encourage the food industry to donate unmarketable but usable food it wou

ld otherwise discard, and collect millions of pounds of food each year as a result. Local restaurants and caterers contribute prepared food through their award-winning Seattle's Table program, and fresh produce is collected from wholesalers and retailers through their Produce for the People program. Local grocery retailers also donate a variety of nutritious products like meat, dairy, fresh produce and baked goods through our Grocery Rescue program.

Help for Your Community

Food Lifeline is also the designated agency for distribution of state and federal food commodities in King County, an affiliate of Feeding America, and is one of the United Way of King County's partner agencies.

Images from Food Lifeline's Shoreline warehouse:

A big thanks to Rebecca Van Maren, Hunger Fellow and Kelsey Beck, Public Policy Manager, for a great tour of Food Lifeline's Shoreline warehouse where they receive, sort and re-package food to food the hungry of Western Washington!

Report on Hungry in Washington by Children's Alliance

Children's Alliance released their Hungry in Washington 2010 on November 16th.

More than 367,000 households in Washington struggled to put food on the table in 2009, according to the most recent report on food security in America released November 15, 2010 by the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service.

To access and read the entire report, click here.

Energize Nutrition Newsletter Focuses on Emergency Food Providers

This month's edition of Energize Newsletter, a Newsletter for Nutrition Educators, focused on the role of NGOs and Food Assistance.

Key Players in Direct Service to Food Banks – In Washington State, several non- profit organizations collect and distribute food to food banks and other centers that provide food to hungry families and individuals. Although the organizations aim to provide direct service, most of them also advocate for anti-hunger efforts, hold fundraising events, and place an increasing emphasis on nutrition.

You can download the newsletter and read more by clicking here.

Governor's Office conference call invitation

A Message from Governor Gregoire's Office

Friends,

Building on her Transforming Washington's Budget process, Governor Gregoire has asked me to make information available to stakeholders and other interested parties about the supplemental and biennial budget preparation process. We hope to reach as many people as are interested in the process so that Washington citizens and organizations can fully inform themselves about the process.

To that end, I will convene a series of conference calls over the lunch hour on upcoming Mondays, starting Monday, November 15th at noon. Calls will last 30 minutes. Topics will vary slightly with each call, but all will relate to the budget development process.

I will ask another member of Governor Gregoire's Senior Staff to co-host each call with me. Chief of Staff Jay Manning will join the first call. Jay and I will discuss the economic context in which Governor Gregoire is implementing the across the board cuts that began in October, as well as the supplemental and biennial budgets that are being developed.

Instructions for connecting to the call are below. I very much hope that you can join us.

Conference call instructions -

This will be a web-based conference call. Q&A will be allowed, so if you have a question during the call you can press *6 and we will be notified through the Q&A queue that there is a question.

Conference dial-in number: (323) 843-0075

Participant access code: 757557

All the best,
Marty

Marty Loesch

Director of External Affairs and Senior Counsel

Office of Governor Gregoire

360.902.0499

Learn more about...Community Gardens

Here are some tips and tricks that were collected at the annual Food Security Coalition Conference 2010:

Often times, the ultimate goal/purpose end up being community building rather than garden building.

Tactics to encourage rural communities:

• Rural garden development is uniquely different than urban: rural has resource they might not realize; once it's started in rural, it continues with little effort
• Give people a list of resources/needs that it takes to start a garden
• Invite them to try it out
• Visit other gardens
• Work on barrier elimination

Tips for sustainability after grant is gone

• Partner with local grocery stores
• Partner with local farmer's markets

Best Practices for community gardens:

• Care for land & care for people
• Have a sign
• Have long-term land tenure
• Gardens need to govern themselves
• Make it a fair place to be
• Cultivate garden leadership
• Create community garden network
• Make a list of items you want people to donate (include big, medium, small, and financial needs)

What’s a proviso? And what’s it got to do with feeding people? - Advocacy Update from Josh Fogt

Governing in times of economic recession is unquestionably difficult. Elected officials and policy makers must balance the competing demands of increasing need for services and growing caseloads with decreased revenue coming in and an uncertain future. Advocating in these tough economic times is equally difficult but never more important. Anti-hunger advocates must speak out to protect the programs that help us feed the hungry and fight hunger.

Given these difficult times, we as advocates need to not only work harder than we have in the past, but we must also be smarter about our work. All programs in every department are at risk of cuts or elimination in the upcoming legislative session, including our Food Assistance Programs (EFAP, TEFAP, CSFP). At issue for the Food Assistance Programs are the depth of the cuts and the long term funding of the programs. The federal TEFAP program is already facing significant reductions of up to 50% in regards to handling/distribution funds in the next two years, making the state EFAP contract dollars even more valuable to preserve.

The recent transition of the Food Assistance Programs into the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), offers two options for the future funding of the programs in the WSDA 2011-2013 biennium budget and beyond. Each option carries its own risks and benefits. Importantly, which option is pursued can be influenced through the advocacy of Washington Food Coalition members.

One option is for budget writers to include WSDA’s Food Assistance Programs in the base budget for the department in order to establish a level of maintenance funding that will carry forward in future biennium budgets. The risk to this option is that, for example, if WSDA faces severe cuts of 10% or deeper across their base budget spending, they can choose to take a deeper cut out of the Food Assistance Programs in order to protect another program in their base budget. The major benefit to this option is that the programs are automatically included in WSDAs budget from the start of each budget cycle.

The other option available is for budget writers to include the food programs in the 2011-2013 budget as an on-going proviso. A proviso is any budget item or policy change that is written into the budget by lawmakers outside of a department’s base budget. The risk to this option is that we as advocates need to lobby for the inclusion of a proviso in each budget cycle in order to ensure the funding exists. The benefit to this option is that proviso money, while still susceptible to across the board cuts, cannot take a bigger hit than the cuts being called for and cannot be eliminated entirely mid-budget cycle (i.e., in a supplemental budget).

The Washington Food Coalition Advocacy Committee is currently exploring the best way to protect the critical funding that WSDA Food Assistance Programs provide. We will take what learn to the Board of Directors for approval on a plan for our advocacy efforts. Stay tuned to this space and the Washington Food Coalition blog for more information, or contact Josh Fogt at Northwest Harvest to learn how you can get involved in this important advocacy work (joshf@northwestharvest.org).

Show Your Support! Purchase A WFC Travel Mug

Show Your Support!

Limited Opportunity! Buy a Washington Food Coalition travel mug, only $10.

More about the mug:

• 16oz stainless steel outer shell with bright color plastic wrap
• Double wall stainless steel insulation
• Chrome twist on lid with a spill prevention slide lock
• Easy grip curved body with a ridged footer

Meet Our Members - Rotary First Harvest Gleaners Resource Guide

Please click here to access the Harvest Against Hunger 2010 Gleaner’s Resource Guide.

The guide was developed through a partnership between Rotary First Harvest – a program of Rotary District 5030 (RFH), the Corporation for National and Community Service, AmeriCorps*VISTA and several local food bank organizations.

RFH has committed to using our unique position in the hunger relief network to identify gaps within the overall hunger response system and develop strategies to fill those gaps. RFH’s core work of providing 40,000 pound truckloads of single produce items is efficient and effective, but doesn’t typically capture small donation amounts that are available from thousands of small farms statewide.

In 2009, RFH created the Harvest Against Hunger (HAH) program to build localized models to gather excess produce from smaller farm operations, home gardeners and other sources that operate at a more local scale. HAH has been instrumental in developing viable and effective gleaning and produce outreach models to smaller communities, bringing a total of nearly one million additional pounds of produce into our hunger relief system.

Last year, RFH sponsored and coordinated 8 AmeriCorps VISTA volunteers who were placed in small community food banks throughout Washington State. Each volunteer produced a document detailing their individual program. These reports were compiled into The Gleaner’s Resource Guide.

Thanks to the unprecedented success of the HAH program, RFH will expand the number of Harvest VISTA volunteers to 10, who begin their year of service in November 2010. HAH sites will include South King County Food Coalition - Des Moines, Lettuce Link Community Fruit Tree Harvest - Seattle, Lettuce Link Farm - Seattle, Second Harvest Inland NW (SHIN) - Tri Cities, Thurston County Food Bank - Olympia, Okanogan Co. Community Action Council - Okanogan, Emergency Food Network - Tacoma, SHIN – Spokane and Skagit CAP – Mt Vernon.

Learn About Hunger in America - watch this video

Guidestar June 2010 Survey: The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector

Public charities and private foundations continued to take a beating during the first five months of 2010. Some 40 percent of participants in GuideStar's first nonprofit economic survey for 2010 reported that contributions to their organizations dropped between January 1 and May 31, 2010, compared to the same period a year earlier. Another 28 percent said that contributions had stayed about the same, and 30 percent stated contributions had increased.

"The Effect of the Economy on the Nonprofit Sector: A June 2010 Survey" presents these results and more. Among the other findings:

• Eight percent of respondents indicated that their organizations was were in imminent danger of closing.

• In order to balance budgets, 17 percent of respondents reduced program services, and 11 percent laid off employees.

• More than 60 percent of participants reporting decreased contributions attributed the drop to a decline in both the number of individual donors and the size of their donations.

• Among organizations that use volunteers, 17 percent used one or more in what had formerly been paid positions.

• About a third (32 percent) of organizations increased their reliance on volunteers, whereas 9 percent experienced a decline.

Chuck McLean, GuideStar's vice president for research, and research assistant Carol Brouwer conducted the survey, analyzed the results, and prepared the survey report.

Download your free copy of the report

Member Information on Bogus Phone Bill Charges

This message was sent to us by one of our member agencies, so we now pass it on to our readers for their information regarding bogus phone bill charges:

"Hi all,

I recently received a phone call from our Qwest representative informing me that a ESBI third party charge was showing up on our agency Qwest phone bill. I had no idea what that was and he explained that it was a charge that Qwest bills for another company as sort of a "pass through". He asked if this was something that we wanted and I told him I didn't even know what the heck it was. He said that he would get it discontinued for us and credit back June and July charges that we paid. The charge was $34.95 for June and $69.90 for July. On a bill like ours it is pretty easy to miss that in all the pages that we get, and I think that is something that the third party is counting on.

I did a quick Google search on ESBI and it appears that this is happening all over the place, including other carriers than Qwest, and home phones - although a smaller amount. $13.+ seems to be a common amount. I read several discussions concerning this and decided that it might be good information for all of you to have when looking at your home phone bills. I haven't read enough to see if cell phones are effected or not.

Anyway, take a look for third party billings. You can't just not pay them, as some people report being sent to collections, but you need to call your carrier and get them to stop putting the charges on your phone, unless it is something that you have authorized.

If you want more information, this link will take you to a forum that is discussing the issue on Embarq phone bills. Embarq must be a North Carolina phone company. This discussion is from Granite Falls, NC. you can also just do a Google search on ESBI and take it from there.

http://www.topix.com/forum/city/granite-falls-nc/TF905ENP2S95PB1C3

another link http://www.consumeraffairs.com/cell_phones/esbi.html

You may want to forward this on to some other folks. Up to you."

Meet Our Members - Seattle Food Committee Van Tour Fifth Stop: Spiritual Miracles Food Bank

The Seattle Food Committee hosted their annual van tour and conducted a tour for 60 attendees to visit 5 new food banks in the Seattle area. These visits provided an inspiring an insightful visit for all of those who participated.

Fifth stop: Spiritual Miracles Food Bank

The Spiritual Miracles Food Bank is located in the Skyway neighborhood of Seattle.

Cheryl Johnson, Founder of Spiritual Miracles and her son Dion Johnson, President of Spiritual Miracles, started the food bank with some extra money they had in 2003. They now both have full-time jobs and run the food bank on top of their regular commitments. Until long-term funding is secured, they continue to use their hard-earned money to support the work they do. In time and treasure, they have devoted themselves to their ministry. Their passion for serving and genuine heart to give is an inspiration.

Future plans for Spiritual Miracles includes a community computer lab. The project is nearly ready, as seen below.

Another future project is a community hangout area and library of resources.

Fresh produce abounds at Spiritual Miracles.

THE END! Some of the visitors in our luxury van for the tour on our way back home! Thank you Seattle Food Committee!

Meet Our Members - Seattle Food Committee Van Tour Fourth Stop: Jewish Family Services Food Bank

The Seattle Food Committee hosted their annual van tour and conducted a tour for 60 attendees to visit 5 new food banks in the Seattle area. These visits provided an inspiring an insightful visit for all of those who participated.

Fourth stop: Jewish Family Services Food Bank
The Jewish Family Services Food Bank is located in the Capitol Hill neighborhood of Seattle.

By the numbers:

• 400 families/month (service is available 1x/month, with some exceptions)
• 33% of clients receive home delivery

Above: showing off the emergency preparedness packages provided through the Seattle Food Committee and sponsored by Seattle Public Utilities. Below: the 7 items in the emergency preparedness packages.

Did you know? The symbols above indicate that those foods are kosher!

Explaining how they just switched over to the Client Card FB database tracking system. The reasons for the switch:

1. Increased efficiency
2. Accuracy
3. Ease for reporting

Meet Our Members - Seattle Food Committee Van Tour Third Stop: North Helpline Food Bank

The Seattle Food Committee hosted their annual van tour and conducted a tour for 60 attendees to visit 5 new food banks in the Seattle area. These visits provided an inspiring an insightful visit for all of those who participated.

Third stop: North Helpline Food Bank
The North Helpline Food Bank is located in the Lake City neighborhood of Seattle.
By the numbers:

• 6000 sq ft
• 833 families/month
• Agency is 21 years old (the food bank opened in 2001)
• Home delivery program holds capacity to serve up to 40 households
• 50-70 volunteers per week
  

North Helpline never turns anyone away who is hungry, and they offer 3 main services in one location: food bank, emergency services program, and a health care clinic.Food Bank manager Kay talks to the group about the advantages of their new location.
An outdoor planting area is a new part of the services provided.
In the health clinic, RotaCare Medical Services and Neighborcare Health provides services ranging from acute care and health services screening to a long term healthcare home for managing chronic conditions.

Photo above is of collection barrels decorated by local groups and businesses as part of a SeaFair event.

Meet Our Members - Seattle Food Committee Van Tour First Stop: Ballard Food Bank

The Seattle Food Committee hosted their annual van tour and conducted a tour for 60 attendees to visit 5 new food banks in the Seattle area. These visits provided an inspiring an insightful visit for all of those who participated.

First stop: Ballard Food Bank
This location is so new that the staff had just moved in and were one day away from their first day of service at the new site.

Ballard Food Bank was gifted by skilled volunteers with a specialized paint coating that is graffiti resistant!

Nancy McKinney, the Ballard Food Bank's Executive Director, informs the group on the new advantages of their shopping area. They will be using a points system, modeled after the University District Food Bank. They were able to get some great glass-front refrigerators from a second-hand restaurant supply warehouse.
Fantastic artwork by Rachael Bigham adorns the walls of the new Ballard Food Bank.

The welcoming reception lobby allows entrance to the food bank, the teaching kitchen, and the other community service items (i.e. mailboxes, voicemail services, etc).