Palmer Food Bank’s new building offers more space and services

What you need to know:

• The Palmer Food Bank recently moved from its aging, cramped downtown building into a new 5,300-square-foot space funded by donations and $1.5 million in state grants, nearly tripling its size and adding amenities such as a waiting area, bathroom, expanded cold storage and improved food preparation areas.
• Early data shows daily customer flow is much higher than at the previous facility because the upgraded space is more comfortable and efficient, officials said.
• Food bank clients are not required to show proof of income or other information to receive donated food. Executive Director Jennifer Brandt said rising living costs are driving need among many Mat-Su residents, and the food bank is available to help in times of need.

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PALMER — For staff and volunteers at Palmer Food Bank’s new location, major wins are found in the little things — like a bathroom and waiting room for visitors, a vegetable cleaning upgrade that moved the task from the bathroom sink to an industrial wash area, and cold storage just for donated bread.

Those are just a few of the major improvements the food bank officials say they gained last month when it moved from its cramped and dilapidated home of more than 30 years in downtown Palmer to a large new facility around the block.

“The roof was caving in, literally,” Palmer Food Bank Executive Director Jennifer Brandt said during a recent tour of the new facility. “That building had lived many, many lives … now we can offer so much more.”

The new 5,300-square-foot food bank is about three times the size of the previous facility and was paid for by donations and grants, including $1.5 million in state funding. It opened last month after volunteers shuttled over the last of the supplies. The old facility, which was built in 1940, was recently listed for $235,000.

The extra space at the new building has already started bringing in more users, Brandt said, with early data showing as many as double the normal daily customer flow. The food bank served about 750 households per month out of the old building, and she expects the total to be substantially higher once they crunch data for the new space.

Brandt said that’s likely because the upgraded space is more comfortable and safe. The old red building had no waiting room or bathroom for visitors. Instead, shoppers had to sit in their cars, sometimes for hours, as the people ahead of them shopped one at a time, a limit required by privacy rules. Volunteers led each shopper through cramped quarters, dodging boxes and shelving.

The new building has a comfortable waiting area with books and toys for kids, a visitors bathroom and plenty of space for users to gather what they need. Shoppers still move through one at a time with the help of a volunteer, but doing so is easier and faster because of the new reception and storage areas, she said.

A variety of other upgrades make running the resource easier on staff and volunteers, she said. The facility has multiple cold and freezer storage areas, wide rows of shelving for donated food items, industrial scales replacing the bathroom scales used at the prior facility and an industrial area for rinsing produce, a task previously done in a small bathroom sink.

The Palmer Food Bank distributes groceries four afternoons each week to Mat-Su residents who need them. While certain federally funded foods at the facility have household income requirements, all personal details collected by the food bank are self-reported, and clients are not required to show proof of income or need or provide official residency information, she said.

Federal income limits are $123,750 for a household of four and were updated in October. Those updates signal the need in the community as the cost of living continues to rise, she said.

Even if income information provided by a client puts them above the federal threshold, they can still take home donated food, she said. The food bank’s hours are purposefully different from those offered by the Mat-Su Food Bank in Wasilla so those in need can visit both. Households are limited to one visit per month, and people who need help should feel welcome at the food bank without stigma, she said.

“We have tradesmen come in here — they think they’re making a lot of money,” she said. “I don’t want people to think that people who come to the food bank are lazy or aren’t working. They’re working.”

Brandt, who took over the executive director role last year, said she has big plans for the new facility, including expanding the food bank’s services and partnerships. Other service organizations can bring information to share with clients in the waiting area. She is hoping to develop a delivery service to provide food to individuals who are homebound, and she wants to host cooking classes, she said.

The food bank is open Monday, Wednesday, Thursday and Friday from 1 to 5 p.m. and is located on E. Arctic Ave. in Palmer.

-- Contact Amy Bushatz at contact@matsusentinel.com