Land donated for new West Shore Food Bank

The West Shore communities now have land for a new food bank, thanks to an anonymous benefactor who has donated a parcel on Bills Road in Lakeside.

The property, located between Joe Blogz and Lakeside Family Dentistry, is about three-quarters of an acre and will be the site of a new 3,600-square-foot food bank.

The independent West Shore Food Bank has long been in need of a new facility, according to director Leslie Knuth. It’s currently housed in a Quonset building with rounded walls, which proves to be rather inconvenient.

“I’m excited about having straight walls in the new building,” Knuth said. “In the Quonset hut I can’t stack anything higher than four cases tall.”

The new structure will be a big upgrade from the current 1,200 square-foot building on U.S. 93.

Those in charge of the food bank chose the future site because there were no covenants on it, it is accessible for a semi-truck and clients will have easy access.

The West Shore Food Bank operates independently and relies strictly on donations to keep its doors open and provide aid to community members. Its territory spans from the north end of Somers to Elmo. There are currently about 120 families served at the Lakeside location.

Repair needs aside, that volume alone is a key reason for the food bank to upgrade because the current facility is too small to meet the community’s needs, Knuth said. As it is now, all six freezers at the facility are overloaded. The new building will have walk-in freezers and coolers.

“With the economy the way it is we’re going to be serving more and more people,” said Cindy Lanier, president of the West Shore Food Bank’s board of directors. “With more people we’re going to need more space.”

The magnitude of repairs needed to upgrade the Quonset promoted the group to opt for a new building.

“We are really afraid that our building won’t pass health code inspections much longer,” Lanier said.

The new facility should save the organization money as well, since there will no longer be a monthly rent payment, as is the case with the current location.

Although the land for the project has been donated, construction costs still need to be determined. A great deal of that work will be completed with in-kind donations and some grants the group is seeking. Without donations of labor the project is estimated to cost around $175,000.

“We’re hoping we’ll get donations and grants to pay for the building,” Lanier said. “If people can’t afford to give money we hope people will come lend a hand in other ways with things like painting and stocking the shelves and that kind of thing. Time is money.”

The goal is to break ground by spring, but Lanier noted there is a lot to be done before that with planning and fundraising. The work that goes into prepping for the construction will be well worth it, though, food-bank leaders agreed.

“We didn’t know what we were going to do,” Lanier said. “If our building doesn’t pass inspection we had nowhere else to go. This enables us to build a building that serves our needs to serve the community.”

The West Shore Food Bank not only provides food to those in need year-round, but also offers holiday baskets at Christmas, Thanksgiving and Easter. Additionally, the group collects and distributes toys to children in need at Christmas.

The food bank was established in its Lakeside location in 1992. Back then there were about six or seven volunteers who worked at the food bank. Today that number has increased to more than 20, including a full-time secretary and Knuth, all of whom are unpaid.