Food bank gets state budget allocation

MOSES LAKE — Construction is scheduled to begin this summer on a new and larger distribution center for Community Services of Moses Lake, which operates the Moses Lake Food Bank.

The project received a $1.9 million allocation through the 2021-22 legislative capital budget and Food bank officials were notified by state Senator Judy Warnick. The project received $2 million in the 2019-20 capital budget, and the new allocation is in addition to that original award.

“We’re starting in July,” food bank Director Peny Archer said of planning. “We’re good to rock and roll.”

The new distribution center will be built on property donated by Chris Hansen at the intersection of Grape Drive and state Route 17. The property originally belonged to Hansen’s father, Marc Marchand.

“Without him this wouldn’t have happened,” Archer said.

The project timeline anticipates awarding a contract sometime in mid-May, with construction scheduled for early July. The project is scheduled for completion in April 2022.

The new building will replace the existing distribution center at 1075 W. Marina Dr. An existing building on the site was upgraded to a warehouse in 2020 through a federal grant designed to help organizations with expenses related to the COVID-19 outbreak. The $330,000 grant paid for a new metal roof and new exterior siding, interior insulation, new interior sheetrock and more secure doors.

Along with the two allocations from the capital budget, the project has received grants from the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, based in Vancouver, which will match donations up to $300,000. The food bank also received a $200,000 grant from the Sunderland Foundation, based in Kansas City, Missouri.