KINGSTON — The Kingston Food Bank will soon have a new home.
The beleaguered organization has received a $16,000 grant from The Seattle Foundation for one year of rent.
Director Barb Fulton said that if she can get a good deal on rent, the foundation may cover a second year.
“We’re in the process of looking for a place,” Fulton said Oct. 30. “[The grant] was an answer to our prayers.”
Two supporters had shared the food bank’s plight with the foundation, and Fulton received the grant on Oct. 28. She hopes the grant spurs other giving that can permanently end the food bank’s odyssey.
The organization had to move out of its longtime home in December after the county determined the building — which is owned by the county — did not meet codes. The food bank was given a place to stay until April by Windermere Real Estate, then moved into Fulton’s 22-foot motor home and went mobile. Earlier in October, Fulton moved the food bank into her husband’s small-engine repair shop at 29630 Rash Road, off Parcells Road. But that location is 1.7 miles north of Highway 104 and 3 miles from downtown.
“It’s farther out of downtown than we had hoped,” Fulton said Sept. 24 of the Rash Road location.
The 58-year-old food bank, founded by Fulton’s parents, meets the needs of approximately 50 families a week. The food bank also provides school supplies to local students in September, and has a clothing for people in need.
Kingston Food Bank supporters include The Pizza Factory, which donates ice; The Grub Hut, which donates fruits and vegetables; and The Borrowed Kitchen, which donates bread.
Kingston Food Bank clients live closer to the downtown core and are mostly older, homeless or pedestrian. In contrast, ShareNet serves a larger area — Kingston, Eglon, Hansville, Indianola, Little Boston, Port Gamble, and some border addresses in Poulsbo and Suquamish.
“I need to find a place in [downtown] Kingston where they will rent to me,” Fulton said, adding that she’s gotten by with 800 square feet but could use 1,000 square feet.
“We did look at the old pizza place by the Laundromat. I’m hoping they will [drop the rent] to $900. If people are willing to go down [in rent], the foundation might go for two years’ rent.”
The food bank’s hours are noon to 3 p.m. on Wednesdays and Fridays. The phone numbers are 360-297-4861 and 360-297-7100.
She hopes the food bank will be in new digs by the first of December.
“Right now, we’re really geared up for the holidays [and] concentrating on getting turkeys for Thanksgiving and gifts for children for Christmas,” she said.
The foundation’s gift is the largest the food bank has received in its history. “We are so jazzed,” she said.
