Food Bank loses warehouse amid increase in clients
The Greater Vancouver Food Bank is looking for a warehouse and distribution centre large enough to store its inventory and provide social distancing to serve a growing number of users during the pandemic.
But it needs a 4,000- to 6,000-square-foot space in Vancouver until its new warehouse is renovated and outfitted with proper refrigeration, expected to be ready by January or February.
When COVID-19 hit, the food bank originally consolidated 13 distribution centres into the Queen Elizabeth Theatre because its smaller locations, in neighbourhood houses and community centres, were too small to allow for physical distancing, said spokeswoman Jody Ou.
After two months, distribution was moved from the city-run theatre to Mount Pleasant Community Centre, but now the food bank has to vacate that location because it is reopening to the public.
A new bigger warehouse and distribution centre, one of four large ones the food bank uses to distribute food to Vancouver, Burnaby and the North Shore, has been found, but it needs to be fitted with refrigeration and freezer units and isn’t expected to be ready for use until January or February, Ou said.
The food bank also continues to provide community depots with food for those who can’t travel to the larger centres.
The food bank needs a large site temporarily, centrally located and preferably with a loading dock for trucks, so it can store and distribute food to its 300 to 400 users a week between October and February. Since March, the food bank has seen a 20 per cent increase in the number of people it serves.
“We have been connecting with a lot of our contacts to find a site,” said Ou.
There are discussions about the food bank possibly using the Vancouver Playhouse, which is also run by the city. The Vancouver Civic Theatres website states that all its venues remained closed because of COVID -19, and phone inquiries were referred to the city’s 311 hotline.
“As the province moved into Phase 2 of recovery, the city began planning for the reopening and alternative use of facilities, including Vancouver Civic Theatres venues and community centres, and as a result of this we are unable to make an ongoing commitment to provide space to organizations such as Greater Vancouver Food Bank,” said city spokeswoman Ellie Lambert. “We remain in conversations with (the food bank) and are looking at options to support them.”