Closure threatens Valley branch of food bank

May 25, 2007

By Hannah Guillaume

Frontiersman

MAT-SU - Food Bank of Alaska's Valley warehouse could close.

The warehouse owner says he will be forced to find someone who can pay the mortgage if the food bank doesn't raise nearly $1 million by June 1.

This would leave 25 food assistance services in the Valley without a nearby food warehouse.

Warehouse owner Scott Johannes said Food Bank of Alaska accepted the property from him at no cost, but expressed an intent to purchase it by Jan. 1, 2007.

He said all parties involved believed the nonprofit would be able to get local and federal funding to purchase the warehouse once Food Bank of Alaska demonstrated the need for its services in the Valley.

But the food bank did not have that money when January rolled around. Johannes extended free use of the warehouse until June 1.

&#8220I'm not sure what will end up working out now,” he said.

He said he may lease the property to paying tenants if the food bank is unable to purchase on the extended date.

The McRobertses and Food Bank of Alaska agreed that the warehouse's owner has been &#8220extremely generous” and said he has been more than fair in working with their long-term goals.

Merri Mike Adams, director of development for Food Bank of Alaska, said the organization requested $500,000 from the Legislature and received just $50,000.

&#8220As far as we are concerned, we got a small amount of money,” Adams said. &#8220If we have to leave, it will break everyone's heart. But we have to leave if we can't raise the money. If anybody knows an angel, that would be fabulous.”

She said Food Bank of Alaska doesn't see renting property for a warehouse in the Valley as fiscally responsible. The organization currently has a food warehouse in Anchorage. Therefore, it has concentrated on trying to purchase the warehouse through funding from the state Legislature, federal representatives and the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

The warehouse's opening allowed the Food Pantry of Wasilla to expand from its smaller location at Good Shepherd Lutheran Church near Wasilla High School. It partnered with the Food Bank of Alaska and used the warehouse's front to house the Valley Food Pantry.

Jeanne and Daryl McRoberts, food managers for the Valley Food Pantry, said if the warehouse isn't purchased by Food Bank of America, they will try combine their resources with their parent pantry at the church location.

&#8220And we'll be having to make multiple trips to Anchorage. Probably close to daily,” Daryl McRoberts said. &#8220At Good Shepherd we have limited room to operate in. There's hardly any storage.”

About 1,500 families were fed by the Valley Food Pantry in the last four months. An equal number of families are fed at the Food Pantry of Wasilla at Good Shepherd. During these same months, the Valley Food Pantry served 7,839 individuals with government food commodities.

Jeanne McRoberts said rising utility costs make a Food Bank of Alaska warehouse necessary in the Valley.

&#8220The need just keeps growing,” she said. &#8220Last month I had 36 new families here. It was in the middle of the month, and I thought, ‘what on Earth?'”

Then she said she went home and opened her mailbox. One look at her utility bills explained the mystery of the new families.

But it isn't just families on limited incomes who will be affected by the warehouse's closure, Jeanne said.

Food Bank Alaska's food warehouse is the only one of its kind in the Mat-Su Borough.

If a catastrophic event occurs in Southcentral Alaska, Valley residents would be left without a food warehouse that carries a partnership with the Red Cross.

Two other food warehouses exist in the Mat-Su Borough, according to the state Division of Environmental Health. Both supply food to local retailers. Knowing this, Jeanne McRoberts said they have been asking the Legislature for help since January.

Without the $1 million needed to purchase the warehouse, the Valley's 25 food assistance agencies will have to go to the Food Bank of Alaska warehouse in Anchorage.

Daryl McRoberts punched numbers on his calculator before he said it will cost about $1,000 each month to drive their 24-foot truck to Anchorage and load food supplies.

Contact Hannah Guillaume at 352-2250 or by e-mail at hannahguillaume@yahoo.com..