Food Bank of Alaska studies possible Mat-Su warehouse project

WASILLA — The Food Bank of Alaska is considering expansion into the Valley at the invitation of a coalition of local food pantry groups.

Officials from the Mat-Su Food Coalition and the Food Bank said expansion is in the very early stages, but could make transportation of food from the food bank in Anchorage to the food pantries in to Mat-Su — organizations like Frontline Ministry, Blood ‘N’ Fire Ministry and the Willow Food Bank — safer and more economical.

The Mat-Su Food Coalition formed last year after a gradual process of coordination among the various organizations dedicating to feeding the hungry in the Valley. Before cooperation began, food banks would go to sometimes remarkably uncharitable lengths to get the best food for their clientele, Food Coalition president Don Houk said.

“Some number of years ago, at set times when you would go to pick up food, it was every man for himself,” he said. “People would be pushing people out of the way, tipping over boxes, so we said ‘Hey, there’s gotta be some rules around here.’ Everybody agreed to the rules. And then we said ‘Wouldn’t it be great if we could talk to the Food Bank of Alaska and then to legislators as one body?’ That sort of just came to fruition then.”

The Valley still represents a minority share of the Food Bank’s total clientele. Valley pantries account for 1,139,164 pounds of food, or about 15 percent of the bank’s total food distribution. Of that amount, 47 percent is categorized as “food from the service area,” which includes the greater Anchorage area, according to figures provided by the Food Bank of Alaska. Thirty-one percent, or 363,262 pounds of food, comes from Valley sources.

Hunger organizations are generally divided into two classes: food pantries — places where people can get food in a pinch — and food banks, which are more like distributors or wholesale operations.

“You can go into a food bank and not get any food,” Houk said.

That’s because banks tend to direct the food (and customers) to the pantries to be served.

“For example, if I’ve got something extra, I can say ‘Hey, would you like some?’ It’s not adversarial. Each one of us wants to help, but we’re not going to cut each other’s throat,” Houk said.

Still, it’s taken a while for the Anchorage-based, Food Bank of Alaska to take notice. Though it has served the Valley since 1983, according to executive director Michael Miller, the state bank considered expansion only after being approached by the Mat-Su Food Coalition.

Thus far, the food bank has applied for sponsorship by the Mat-Su Health Foundation and to the Foraker Group’s predevelopment process, Miller said. The bank also is working with the Mat-Su Food Coalition to scope out a building, and the timeline for that is up in the air.

“As we move along in this process if we find something opportune, we may have to move more quickly,” Miller said.

For partners in the Valley, the plan makes sense because it is a way of reducing the costs of transporting that food from the bank out to the Valley, Houk said. The food is needed in part because demand in the Valley far outstrips the ability of Valley sources to provide it, Houk said.

It’s also because the need for food is increasing.

“Everyone one of the organization has seen larger numbers,” he said. “It was nice that when the Senior Center closed down, three of the organizations picked up the people right away. Whenever something like that happens, we see an influx of people. We see some extra people come in during the Willow fire. Everybody helps out everybody else.”

Contact Brian O’Connor at 352-2269, brian.oconnor@frontiersman.com, or on Twitter @reporterbriano.