{"id":7720,"date":"2013-07-02T11:00:38","date_gmt":"2013-07-02T15:00:38","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=7720"},"modified":"2013-07-02T13:32:32","modified_gmt":"2013-07-02T17:32:32","slug":"ambitious-appetite-prompts-food-bank-move","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/?p=7720","title":{"rendered":"Ambitious appetite prompts Food Bank move"},"content":{"rendered":"

Chester County nonprofit\u2019s plethora of produce, volunteers outgrows space<\/em><\/span><\/h1>\n
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By Kathleen Brady Shea<\/strong><\/span>,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times<\/em><\/span><\/p>\n

\"Larry<\/a>

Larry Welsch, executive director of the Chester County Food Bank, surveys some of the current, cramped office space, which features overflow storage on the floor.<\/p><\/div>\n

When the Chester County Food Bank rose from the ashes of its bankrupt predecessor in 2009, it did so with an ambitious goal: to end hunger rather than just assuage it.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Since that time, its growth has amazed even its organizers. In September 2010, the Food Bank, a clearinghouse for the county\u2019s food cupboards, moved into a complex in East Brandywine Township, where it expanded its operations. In addition to adding\u00a0 flash-freezers and dehydrators to extend the growing season, the Food Bank grew its existing programs and added a host of new ones.<\/p>\n

Now, less than four years at a facility expected to last for 10, mathematics has dictated otherwise, said Larry Welsch, executive director of the independent nonprofit. A sampling of numbers that don\u2019t compute: 14 parking spaces divided among nine employees plus 3,300 volunteers, or one small refrigerator and last season\u2019s 600,000 pounds of fresh produce.<\/p>\n

<\/p>\n

\"Construction<\/a>

Construction is underway on the Chester County Food Bank\u2019s new facility in Uwchlan Township, which will quadruple the size of its current warehouse in East Brandywine Township.<\/p><\/div>\n

\u201cThe Chester County Food Bank is not like most food banks. We\u2019re not the old model: \u2018cans in, cans out, \u2019\u201d said Welsch. Instead, the Food Bank, led by real-estate entrepreneur Robert McNeil, recognized that the county\u2019s agriculture was an invaluable resource, said Welsh.<\/p>\n

Welsch said the Food Bank began looking for a new location two months ago and found one in Uwchlan Township that would quadruple its size to about 36,000 square feet. It also identified a prospective buyer for the old space, and is now under a tight deadline to relocate by July 31, he said.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re just going to get it done,\u201d stated Doug Howe, the contractor orchestrating the retrofitting of a former packaging plant in the Eagleview Corporate Center. The biggest changes are the addition of a 45-by-45-foot refrigeration space and a 45-by-25-foot freezer section, Howe said as busy workers scurried around him.<\/p>\n

Anne Shuniak, community outreach and marketing director for the Food Bank, said the office area in the building will remain relatively unchanged. \u201cWe\u2019re using the same desks and everything that\u2019s here,\u201d she said, adding that the space itself will be a luxury. \u201cI\u2019m not sure we\u2019re going to know what to do with it.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"In<\/a>

In addition to improved loading and storage space, the Chester County Food Bank\u2019s new location increases the number of parking spaces from 14 to 52.<\/p><\/div>\n

Welsch said demand surpassed the existing equipment some time ago, and the new facility, which will include a 19-by-70-foot staging area, will enable the Food Bank to continue implementing its new programs, many of which are offshoots of old ones.<\/p>\n

For example, the gleaning program, started in 1996 by state Sen. Andy Dinniman, is based on the Biblical description of scavenging for food left in harvested fields. Some farmers\u2019 crops are earmarked for the Food Bank while others make their leftovers available to be picked by traveling groups of volunteers. Welsch said the success of gleaning spawned the \u201craised-bed\u201d program, in which local churches, businesses, schools or residents grow produce for the Food Bank.<\/p>\n

As that effort flourished \u2013 546 gardens at 129 sites, including 49 schools, last year, up from a total of 25 in 2009 \u2013 the Food Bank launched a greenhouse initiative, providing schools with unheated \u201chigh tunnels\u201d so that students can grow food almost year-round for their cafeterias. \u201cWe\u2019re looking for any way to grow our own resources \u2026 and to encourage healthy eating,\u201d Welsch said.<\/p>\n

He said Food Bank workers developed curriculums for elementary- and middle-school students to reinforce the concept of good nutrition, and have worked with school staff to introduce healthier food selections for students. Squash bars were a winner during a taste test, Welsch said. The Food Bank also created a school backpack program so that students eligible for free or reduced lunches could take healthy food home over the weekend, and it has sponsored cooking classes.<\/p>\n

Welsch said even though the economy shows signs of improvement, he has not seen a slowdown in need. At the same time, it\u2019s difficult to gauge, he said, because the Food Bank has widened its mission to encourage healthy eating for all children, not just the underprivileged. What he has observed in one of the nation\u2019s most affluent counties\u00a0is an increase in those willing to reach out to those less fortunate. \u201cIt\u2019s incredible the way people have stepped up,\u201d he said. \u201cI\u2019m absolutely thrilled with this county and the response we\u2019ve received.\u201d<\/p>\n

The outreach ranges from individual families who drop off excess crops from home gardens to massive corporations such as QVC, Wegman\u2019s, Endo Health Solutions, Inc., and Vanguard, which have instituted large-scale programs, and smaller businesses like Waterloo Gardens, which put in raised beds for the Food Bank.\u00a0 \u201cIt\u2019s a community effort,\u201d said Welsch. \u201cIt\u2019s amazing what we\u2019ve been able to accomplish in 3 \u00bd years.\u201d<\/p>\n

In the midst of the relocation frenzy, Welsch said the Food Bank remains buoyed by the news it received a month ago from the University of Pennsylvania. A study the university performed ranked the Chester County Food Bank sixth nationwide in the percentage of fresh food it disperses. \u201cTwenty-two percent of the 2,000,000 pounds of food we distributed was fresh,\u201d Welsch said. \u201cThat was great to hear; of course, we\u2019re always working to make it higher.\u201d<\/p>\n

For more information on the Chester County Food Bank, visit\u00a0http:\/\/chestercountyfoodbank.org<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Chester County nonprofit\u2019s plethora of produce, volunteers outgrows space By Kathleen Brady Shea,\u00a0Managing Editor, The Times When the Chester County Food Bank rose from the ashes of its bankrupt predecessor in 2009, it did so with an ambitious goal: to end hunger rather than just assuage it. Since that time, its growth has amazed even […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":7723,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3,25,4],"tags":[189,2133,2778],"class_list":["post-7720","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-community","category-featured","tag-chester-county-food-bank","tag-larry-welsch","tag-robert-mcneil"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7720","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/5"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=7720"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7720\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/7723"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=7720"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=7720"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kennetttimes.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=7720"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}