Growing room: Construction to begin on new Moses Lake Food Bank
CHERYL SCHWEIZER | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 4 years, 5 months AGO
The Moses Lake Food Bank, shown here distributing food in November 2020, has outgrown its current location. Construction on a new facility begins Monday.
File photo
Senior Reporter Cheryl Schweizer is a journalist with more than 30 years of experience serving small communities in the Pacific Northwest. She began her post-high-school education at Treasure Valley Community College and enerned her journalism degree at Oregon State University. After working for multiple publications, she has settled down at the Columbia Basin Herald and has been a staple of the newsroom for more than a decade. Schweizer’s dedication to her communities and profession has earned her the nickname “The Baroness of Bylines.” She covers a variety of beats including health, business and various municipalities. | July 15, 2021 1:05 AM
MOSES LAKE — The construction of a new Moses Lake Food Bank officially starts with a groundbreaking ceremony at 2 p.m. Monday at the site, 9393 NE Beacon St. in Moses Lake.
For those who are not familiar with Beacon Street, the site is at the intersection of state Route 17 and Grape Drive.
“To say we’re excited is an understatement,” said Peny Archer, director of Community Services of Moses Lake, which operates the food bank.
The new facility will be about 10,000 square feet, almost double the size of the current location at 1075 W. Marina Dr., which is about 6,000 square feet.
The existing space is too small for all the food collected and distributed by the food bank, which is stored in two locations besides the Marina Drive facility. The Moses Lake Food Bank serves as a distribution center for 34 food banks in five counties besides Moses Lake.
“It (the new facility) will be so much easier for everybody,” she said.
Total project cost is estimated at $2.9 million. Construction should take about a year, Archer said.
Groundbreaking is the culmination of a years-long fundraising effort that started with the donation of the land by Chris and Mick Hansen in 2014.
“There’s been a lot of good work by a lot of good people,” Archer said. “It’s been a long time coming. And it’s desperately needed here.”
Donations are still being accepted. The M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, based in Vancouver, still is working on a grant with the food bank. The trust will match every donation up to $300,000.
“Dollar for dollar,” Archer said.
Some improvements already were made to the Grape Drive property, which officials don’t have a plan for after the move. An existing building was extensively remodeled in 2020. The building got a new roof, new doors, new siding and sheetrock, using about $330,000 in federal money allocated to help organizations with expenses related to the COVID-19 outbreak.
Most of the freezers and other equipment in the existing building will go to the new building.
ARTICLES BY CHERYL SCHWEIZER
Port of Moses Lake to build electrical generation, transmission lines
MOSES LAKE — The Port of Moses Lake will start construction of electrical transmission lines between port property and Rocky Ford to the north and the port and Connell to the south. Port officials also are working to build electrical generation facilities on port property.
Audit findings follow sentencing of former GCFD 4 chief
WARDEN — Grant County Fire District 4 is instituting new policies for credit card use and use of its petty cash accounts. Fire district officials also have written new policies governing the purchase of equipment following the two audits by the Washington State Auditor’s Office, released Monday.
Mattawa to work on sewer, water projects in 2026
MATTAWA — The city of Mattawa has budgeted to spend about $200,000 more in its current expense (general) fund in 2026 than it is projected to receive in revenue. Expenses for all departments are projected to be slightly higher than revenues, and as a result Mattawa is projected to have slightly less money in at the end of 2026 than it does at the beginning of the year.