A vacant lot in Nanaimo could become the new home of an expanded food-distribution warehouse for the Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank.
The city purchased the 1.34-acre lot at 1861 East Wellington Rd. for $1.3 million with the intention of leasing it to the food bank so it can expand its storage capacity. The goal is to have a 30-year lease for the site.
Loaves and Fishes was started by St. Paul’s Anglican Church and Archdeacon David McKay, before the Loaves and Fishes Food Bank Foundation was created by Bill Purdy and Rev. Dawn Braithwaite in 1996.
Since 2014, it has been working out of its central warehouse at 210 Fry St., but the space has become too small, given growing demand.
The new site provides enough room to build a 25,000-square-foot warehouse that will allow the organization to expand its Food 4U Recovery Program, which has grown substantially.
The program collects surplus food — often fruits, vegetables, meat and dairy — from grocers that would otherwise have tossed it out. It started in 2011, and distributed approximately $800,000 worth of food that year. By 2020, it was distributing about $6.2 million worth of food annually.
By accepting all food, the program can offer retailers a cost-effective, socially responsible, and environmentally friendly way of disposing of food they can’t sell, the organization says.
Volunteers sort the collected food to ensure only the highest-quality food is made available to people. Food that doesn’t make the grade goes to local farmers for their animals or composts. The rest is either composted or taken to the landfill.
“We are incredibly grateful to the City of Nanaimo for purchasing the land for our much-needed warehouse expansion,” said Peter Sinclair, executive director of the food bank. “By investing in the Loaves and Fishes infrastructure, we will be able to provide an increasing abundance of food for people in need throughout our community for years to come.”
The vacant lot is now used by Loaves and Fishes as an outdoor storage facility for its Empties 4 Food program, which collects recyclable containers to raise money to purchase food.
Nanaimo Mayor Leonard Krog said the food bank does “excellent work” in the community, providing a much-needed service to a growing segment. “Council was very supportive of the request from Loaves and Fishes to partner with them on this project.”
Nanaimo council will consider a 30-year lease of the property to Loaves and Fishes at its Dec. 20 meeting.
