Gig Harbor’s new $8 million food bank is leasing land for $1 a year. Here’s when it opens
Construction for the new Gig Harbor Peninsula FISH Food Bank building at 4303 Burnham Dr. began in November. The new facility is set to officially open its doors Wednesday, July 13.
Volunteers from the community have been helping move everything from the old building into the new one, which is just a few hundred feet away.
This will be the first time the public is seeing the completed project since a virtual progress tour in April.
The public is invited to celebrate the grand opening with GHP FISH Food Bank and Community Services with a ribbon-cutting at 4 p.m. Tuesday, July 12. After the ribbon-cutting ceremony the public will receive a tour of the new building.
The total cost of the project came out to be right under the $8 million they anticipated.
The city granted the food bank $500,000. GHP FISH Food Bank fundraised the rest of the money with help from the community to cover the building cost, which was almost $3 million, site work, the permit process, furniture, and an endowment security fund to keep the facility running in the years to come, among other costs.
“We were able to come in right under budget due in large measure to the incredible Washington Patriots Construction company, who did everything they could to keep costs down including planning ahead by purchasing materials before lumber prices went up. We didn’t get hit with all of the high costs the pandemic brought,” Ron Coen, board president for the GHP FISH Food Bank, told The Gateway.
Meeting with the construction company and project contractors weekly helped keep construction moving, Coen said. The building opens its doors about a year after they broke ground.
“We started 46 years ago with no clue what the future held for us. We now have a building that offers maximum flexibility, improving the way we do things,” Coen said.
The new building offers larger sections and new additions that were not in the old building.
There’s a larger clothing store section, private financial advising rooms, a conference room allowing the board to meet and additional offices for staff.
The old building only had one office for meeting and storage needs.
The shopping experience in the food bank that was put on hold during the pandemic is returning for visitors. They will be able to grab a shopping cart and make rounds in the grocery store section to pick out the items their family needs. This will be the first time since the pandemic began that shoppers will be able to browse on their own. For the last two years volunteers at the food bank would pack what the visitor wanted in bags for them to take home.
Being back in person allows visitors and volunteers to share stories, connect and have social interaction, Coen said.
Land leased for $1 a year
A local property owner offered to give GHP FISH a 99-year lease on the lot for the new building for $1 a year.
“A local family knew we had been looking for a piece of property for years,” Coen said.
The building belongs to the food bank, but the ground belongs to the owner.
“We want to be as helpful to the local community as possible. Inflation has made it really tough (for) a lot of people and we’re doing everything we can to make life better for people,” Coen said.
It’s become hard for people to stay in their homes, making buying food their second priority, Coen said. Coen thinks these trends are primarily due to the pandemic and current inflation issues.
In recent months they have seen more people come to the food bank than before. The last three months have been the biggest when it comes to visitor numbers, according to Sue Lockett John, communications coordinator at the food bank.
The food bank is currently serving about 1,100 people a month, Coen said.
“I can’t thank the community enough and I hope they know this is not just here now, but for generations to come,” Coen said about the new building.
The main leadership staff at the food bank is made up of just over 20 volunteers. Most are retired and now give their time to the food bank.
“When people retire they have all these skills and resources, which really shows throughout our staff,” Jan Coen, food bank coordinator, told The Gateway,
This story was originally published July 11, 2022 at 10:45 AM.
