Food Bank Has A New Home

WAITSBURG - It all started just before Christmas.

The first topic of Andie Holmberg's conversation with B. A. Keve was the food baskets program run by the Waitsburg Ministerial Association. Holmberg's employer, AmericanWest Bank, was about to participate as a donor in the program for disadvantaged local families for the first time.

But small town chats meander, and so did this one. Soon, the women's discussion turned to the subject of the Waitsburg Food Bank.

Holmberg learned from Keve that the program on which needy households rely more than ever these days was low on supplies and didn't qualify for federal food commodities aid because its location in the basement of the Presbyterian Church on Main Street is not accessible to persons with disabilities.

That got Holmberg thinking about the 480-squarefoot office space inside her company's Waitsburg branch building that had been sitting empty for almost a decade.

"Why not our building, I thought," said Holmberg, whose position at the branch is aptly titled Service & Solutions Manager.

Not the least bit daunted by the prospect of jumping through corporate bureaucratic hoops, Holmberg ran the idea by Todd Wood, the bank's financial center manager for Dayton and Waitsburg. He liked it, and so did the Spokane based company's community reinvestment officer. With surprising speed, the unique proposal went all the way to the top of the company, and before long, AmericanWest's legal department had drawn up the lease papers for the use of the space. Bank officials signed them Friday.

The proposal had the interest and backing of CEO Scott Kisting and COO Jim Claffe, who are part of the new ownership team.

SKBHC Holding of Southern California recently agreed to buy AmericanWest Bank's 58 branches, including the ones in Waitsburg and Dayton, out of bankruptcy

"Once I brought it up, the project sold itself," Holmberg said.

For the ministerial association, the "combine" of the First Christian, Presbyterian and Catholic churches that runs the food bank, the bank's lease was a Godsend. Although a lot of details still need to be worked out about the new facility, association representatives said there's no question it will allow for much more and better outreach among those in need.

" Waitsburg has never had anything like this," First Christian's Pastor Mike Ferrians said, noting that Dayton has its Project Timothy on Main Street.

"I'm very pleased," he said, praising Holmberg and Wood for their support. "This means God is blessing this desire (we have) to do good. It will make the community a better place for all of us."

Ferrians has worked closely with Pastor Bret Moser of the Presbyterian Church, Father Robert Turner from the Catholic Church and members of their congregations to prepare for the new "Waitsburg Resource Center," which they envision will start soon as an expanded food bank and eventually offer much more than nutrition.

A faith-based organization that will not proselytize, the center may consider adding such services as information about local resources, spiritual counseling, donations exchange and seasonal food gleaning. And it may expand its hours from its Saturday morning operation and be open more thanks to a surge of interest in the project from members of the three congregations and the community.

The space for food items itself will triple and include room for other essentials such as frozen meats, hygiene items, infant supplies and clothing, Ferrians said. The current location, a small dank cellar at the bottom of a steep staircase, is barely 150 square feet.

AmericanWest's lease agreement could not be more generous. The initial 18-month lease, renewable for five years after that, doesn't cost the Ministerial Committee a cent in rent or utilities. Normally, the rent is nearly $700 a month.

The center will have its own signage on Preston Avenue (offered by Blue Crystal Screen Printing), and all the volunteer group needs to do to qualify the new space for federal commodities assistance is build a wheelchair ramp. Mayor Walt Gobel and Councilman Karl Newell are lending their support to help ramp construction through city permitting.

The space inside the branch office building consists of two parts. One is a 240-square-foot front office, which will function as a reception area. Here, clients may eventually be able to get help finding resources to address other household challenges through a variety of area counseling services. The office behind it, which already has shelving, will function as the food bank.

"This fulfills a vision we've had for a while," Ferrians said. "A lot of doors will open for the church community to expand its outreach and make it more effective."

Holmberg said she doesn't know of any one of AmericanWest Bank's many other branches with a like arrangement and feels good about her company's support for such an "out-of-the-box" idea.

"I think it will benefit a lot of people," she said. "I like being at a community bank. It allows me to look for solutions for people."

Holmberg, who was born and raised in Pomeroy and moved to Dayton shortly after she got her job at the Waitsburg bank branch six years ago, already knew many of her own customers in town are struggling in this tough economy.

Particularly her elderly clients, who live on fixed incomes and see ongoing price rises for their everyday expenses, are having a hard time.

"It amazes me to see how little people can live on," she said.

This realization was one of the reasons Holmberg wanted to make a difference to the community with her bank's support.

"I know many of my customers will take advantage of this," she said. "Helping people is the best part of my job."