New year, new building, new hope

Marion Welch offers healthy options to Ken

The word is out: River City Food Bank is back in business, and it’s better than ever.

After two weeks out of operation as we moved, we re-opened Monday to a relieved crowd. Short on money for basics like healthy food, people in need found our new home at 1800 28th Street. By the end of the week we provided emergency 3-day groceries to approximately 1,300 clients.

The open-plan facility also allowed us to do something we’ve been wanting to do for years: offer people a choice of healthy foods. We believe it will help people eat better if they can choose things that fit their family’s tastes and habits. But it also reflects our philosophy of serving people with dignity. We want to respect their preferences and give them more control over what for many is a devastating experience: not just a loss of income, but the loss of a way of life.

The building not only looks shiny and new, it smells fresh. “The smell of fresh paint instills a sense of pride in our volunteers, staff and clients,” Eileen says. “It feels new and hopeful.”

Who needs new-car smell when you can have this?

Besides the many volunteers who helped improve the space and pack and unpack boxes of supplies and food, Eileen says she is grateful for John Rohveld’s facilitation with Shannon Trucking, which moved RCFB’s enormous commercial freezers and refrigerators. Goodwill also provided the truck that loaded up our food and moved it to the new location a half mile away.