On the morning of Thursday November 7, Alameda Food Bank staff, board members, and supporters gathered in the empty parking lot across the street from their current location at 650 West Ranger Avenue. As the scent of baking bread from Firebrand wafted through the air, Mayor Marilyn Ezzy Ashcraft joined them in celebrating the groundbreaking of their new permanent facility.
Standing in front of a bulldozer and a mound of dirt, Mayor Ashcraft praised the Food Bank in her opening ceremonial remarks. “It is a lifeline in our community, providing nourishment and dignity to people who live, work, and attend school in Alameda.”
Dignity may seem like a surprising word choice to some, but it is something the Alameda Food Bank is committed to providing for those who are food insecure. The new facility will continue to house the Island Community Market, which the mayor likened to a Trader Joe’s. Instead of being handed a pre-selected bag of groceries, those visiting the Food Bank are given a shopping cart to select their own groceries just as they would at a supermarket. Adjacent to the market will be a warehouse to store all the food and supplies.
The new facility will be a major upgrade to the current market and warehouse across the street, which has experienced water leaking through the roof and a flooded parking lot. At the groundbreaking ceremony, Alameda Food Bank Executive Director Teale Harden addressed attendees and thanked them for coming and supporting the organization. She talked about the Food Bank’s past as a “scrappy organization” with “humble beginnings,” but acknowledged that they are now ready to take the organization to the next level.
“We’re in a position today where we can actually build something from the ground up that is what the people need to utilize our services. …And we can design it for them and for the community instead of just using cast offs and making do with everything,” Harden said.
The Alameda Food Bank went from serving between 45 and 60 families a day at their small building at the corner of Jean Sweeney Park to 500 families a day during the pandemic out of their current warehouse. That number is now about 185 families a day but on a recent day in October, they served 726 families.
Harden tells the Alameda Post that the new facility will be 20% bigger and can serve more people. What she is most excited about, though, is that the facility will be better equipped and can run more efficiently.
“This facility is about the future and being prepared and giving the best experience possible. On busy days now, we might have people waiting an hour to go in for their shopping appointment, but with a larger shopping floor, we’re going to be able to have more people shopping at one time and reduce those wait times.”
Maxine Grant, an attendee at the groundbreaking, regularly utilizes the Alameda Food Bank’s services. “It means a lot to us, you know, in these uncertain times… Financially, it’s a big help, it’s necessary, it feeds a lot of people. Everybody is on a financial cliff right now.”
Ryan LaLonde, Alameda School Board member, also was in attendance. “We have students that are in need of food. We have families that are always going to be in need of food. …A stable home environment means a stable and successful school journey.” He added a bit pointedly, “I’m here to support the Food Bank and everything it does. …This is now going to be a historic spot for real.”
LaLonde is referring to the ongoing lawsuit that threatens the construction of the Alameda Food Bank’s new facility by claiming they are building on a “historic parking lot.” Despite the lawsuit, the Food Bank decided to move ahead with their plans, with construction beginning next week.
Harden concedes that they are taking a risk but explains, “The fact is that we own the parcel, we own the building, even before the lawsuit came out. We had already started demo on the building before the lawsuit came out. And we feel like it’s essential for us to continue to move forward and make sure that the future of our organization is secure and that the neighbors who come to us have a secure place to go and get food.”
Alameda Food Bank volunteer Peter Benziger has seen first hand the need for a secure place. “People’s lives can change in an instant,” he said. “In the course of three or four weeks they can become food insecure or they have a medical problem… if we weren’t here, they would have nowhere to go.”
Jean Chen is a contributing writer for the Alameda Post. Contact her via [email protected]. Her writing is collected at AlamedaPost.com/Jean-Chen.
