Challenge of enough volunteers remains

Retirement always brought to mind thoughts of traveling, sleeping in and enjoying long lunches. While retirement did result in all of these, it also brought the opportunity to spend Wednesdays at the Valley Food Bank on the west end of the Spokane Valley Community Center building at 10814 E. Broadway Ave., next to Broadway Elementary School.

In 2001 when I began volunteering at the old facility shared with the Spokane Valley Community Center on East First Avenue, I spent only a morning or an afternoon doing what needed to be done. The space was cramped but the spirit of those who came to help or get help was positive and contagious. My half days soon became full days, and I began to get a feel for the important work being done to help those in need.

Now I spend every Wednesday I am in Spokane with our director and other volunteers assisting our young and old clients who come to pick up food to help them get through the month.

The numbers just begin to provide a picture of what goes on at the Valley Food Bank. Our clients – close to 800 poverty level families every month – receive more than 30 tons of food monthly. This had been collected, delivered, sorted, repackaged and distributed each week by teams of Food Bank volunteers. The annual value of this work and donated food is more than $1 million yet the cost to operate the food bank has been less than $70,000 a year.

Since the Valley Food Bank was founded by community churches in 1971, it has grown dramatically, faster than the population in its eastern Spokane County service area. The past decade has seen client usage and amount of food distributed increase by 5 to 8 percent each year. Valley Food Bank currently rents operating and storage space in the Spokane Valley Community Center.

The Valley Food Bank receives basic products from the Second Harvest Food Bank, for which we are a major outlet in the Inland Northwest. Food drives sponsored by schools, Scouting groups, businesses and other organizations help fill our shelves. Money donations pay for food that has not been donated, especially perishable items. Many area grocery stores provide day-old bakery goods. And, of course, the produce donated by Plant-A-Row and others with gardens this fall added greatly to what we could provide our clients.

Those who use the Valley Food Bank must live in our service area, which is bounded by Park Road on the west, the Idaho state line on the east, Bigelow Gulch Road on the north and the Spokane County line on the south.

Clients are asked to use the food bank only once a calendar month, except in November and December when holiday food baskets are offered. A computerized data bank tracks each person’s visit to any food bank in the Spokane area to limit abuse. The amount of food given is determined by the size of the family.

One of the most innovative programs is the Valley Food Bank’s cooking class. After clients have accessed the food bank three times in six months, they are required to take a series of six cooking classes in order to learn how to better use the products they receive and to continue to receive food. At the completion of the series, each graduate receives a cookbook containing many useful low-cost recipes. Last spring Executive Director Barbara Bennett was honored with a trip to Washington, D.C., to accept an award from the U.S. Department of Agriculture for establishing this cooking class.

With our executive director the only full-time staff person, among the continuing challenges facing the Valley Food Bank is the need for volunteers with and without a strong back. There are jobs for all who have time to donate, a positive attitude and are committed to treating all our food bank clients with respect and a smile. The volunteer registration form is not complicated and can be picked up at the Valley Food Bank.

With the holidays coming and shelves emptying each week, the need has never been so great. We are serving more families all the time. That is why the generous support in both food and money donations is so much appreciated by the Food Bank and its clients.

With our current lease with the Spokane Valley Community Center running out on Dec. 31, negotiating a new lease is a priority. Our current location is a plus for those who need to access a number of community services in one visit, and we hope to continue our partnership in order to serve those most in need in these challenging economic times.

To contact the Valley Food Bank call 928-7769.