Columbia Gorge Food Bank Seeks City Approval for Renovations
By Cole Goodwin
Columbia Gorge Food Bank is seeking administrative action from the City of The Dalles to get approval to renovate an existing 10,000 square foot warehouse located at 3525 Crates Way. The renovations are expected to cost upwards of $2 million.
The renovations will include bringing the warehouse up to commercial food warehousing standards, a walk-in and drive-in freezer, a 1,360 square-foot cooler that can hold an entire truckload of produce, a cooler, a recessed exterior loading dock, and a 446 square-foot community room.
Members of the junior board of the Reser Foundation assembled 200 homeless outreach bags for the Columbia Gorge Food Bank.
The community room will also be home to a demonstration kitchen where community cooking classes can occur. The new space would also include plans for a flex space, where community organizations and programs like Windy River Gleaners, The Community Backpack Program could operate and hold meetings. The new space would also allow migrant farmworker food boxes and homeless outreach bags to be packed on site.
"We're going to be able to do so much more for this community with a new warehouse," said Sharon Thornberry, Manager of Columbia Gorge Food Bank. "And it's going to be a place that the community can use in the event of a disaster. This is not just for low-income folks. This is for everyone. When we have a disaster, we need to have a place that can be a center."
There are also plans to make the space beautiful and welcoming by showcasing local art at the warehouse.
"One of the things we're going to be working on is making sure that we have a lot of art that reflects our community and the diversity of our community," said Thornberry. "Google has just awarded us a $50,000 grant that will be used to furnish the community room and the flex space."
The Food Bank purchased the warehouse last December following a large donation of $1 million from an anonymous donor. They hope to get approval from the city as soon as possible to begin renovating the new space. They will then move their operations from their current location, a small 2,000 square foot warehouse just across the street.
CGFB currently operates in a a 2,000 sf warehouse.
"We're really cramped in our current space," said Thornberry. "Right now, we have a 400-square-foot cooler and less than a hundred square feet of freezer."
Oregon's food insecurity has doubled during the pandemic, leading to increased demand for space, time, and resources at the Food Bank.
"The need increased dramatically during the pandemic," said Thornberry. "We've had to be very creative in how we move food."
In 2016, the foodbank distributed 722,531 pounds of food to 3,300 people through seventeen regional partners and twenty-three food distribution sites.
In 2020, just four years later, Columbia Gorge Food Bank is now distributing more than 2 million pounds of food to food-insecure individuals and families in Sherman, Gilliam, Hood River, and Wasco Counties.
That is a 1,277,461 pound increase in food insecurity in our region in the last five years.
"For our service area and the number of people that we serve, and because of our agriculture resources here, we should have about a 10,000-square-foot warehouse," said Thornberry.
"There are several hundred families who get food assistance throughout the region. Windy River Gleaners alone serves about 130 local families a week," said Thornberry.
Scaling Up to Meet the Need
The Food Bank has more or less doubled its output, its pantries, and its partnerships in five years. And from May 2020 – May 2021, it worked in partnership to distribute 800 -1000 farm-to-family food boxes weekly.
"When I first came out here five years ago, we only had pantries in The Dalles, in Hood River and Cascade Locks. And there was one in Sherman County that was open one day a month," she said. "So, one of the things we did was to add more food pantries to rural areas.”
Prepandemic, the Food Bank added a pantry in Dufur and in Rufus. During the pandemic, it opened a pantry in Wamic and in Maupin.
"That's huge to me. When you live in a remote rural community, you don't get to the grocery store to get fresh food very often,” Thornberry said. “But if you can go to the food pantry and get fresh produce. That means a lot. You're not living out of a tin. You're eating good food.”
Once the warehouse scale-up is complete, Oregon Food Bank intends to donate the property to a local 501c3 that will run the regional Columbia Gorge Food Bank. Thornberry said that having a locally owned and locally run food bank was the way to go.
"I think food banks fair better when they're run by and owned by the community they are in," she said. "We're going to continue to listen to the community and to work with the community to improve food and nutrition.”
Columbia Gorge Food Bank was also recently awarded $100,000 from the Roundhouse Foundation to buy a new delivery truck, which is on order and will be delivered in April of 2022.
How to Get Involved
Submit Public Comment to the City of The Dalles about the new warehouse renovations by emailing: jchandler@ci.the-dalles.or.us by 5 P.M. today, Dec. 8th.
Volunteer with CGFB
Warehouse – Assist operations staff with routine warehouse organization, deliveries, and orders.
Food Team- Bring a team from your church, civic group, or business to help pack food bags or produce.
Donate
Individual Food Donations
Some of our most nutritious food comes from individuals. Find out the best ways for you to personally give food here.
Food & Fund Drives
Collect food and funds with your workplace, church, school or other organization. There is a list of “Most Wanted Foods” & will furnish barrels. Find out more here.
Individual Donations
Add Columbia Gorge Food Bank to the organizations that you support on a monthly or yearly basis. To donate to the Columbia Gorge Food Bank online click here.
Want to know more? Read Columbia Gorge Food Bank Frequently Asked Questions here.
