THE FEED KERN NOW CAMPAIGN The CAPK Food Bank is currently operating at maximum capacity, jeopardizing our ability to meet the food needs of the most vulnerable and food insecure residents in our community. Expanding the CAPK Food Bank will greatly increase its ability to do more, with the determination and vision to alleviate hunger across communities served. The addition of 40,000 square feet to the existing 20,000 square foot CAPK Food Bank warehouse will more than triple the square footage, providing the following solutions:
Increase in Storage The CAPK Food Bank tries to accept all food offered to meet the immense food needs in Kern County. With the CAPK Food Bank operating at capacity, additional space is needed to receive and store food donation until they can be distributed through the network of partner distribution sites.
An integral part of CAPK’s ability to meet food needs is through private donation, including fruits and vegetables from local growers. To meet the increasing food needs throughout the county, more space is needed to accept even larger quantities of these foods. Once expanded, CAPK’s Food Bank will have the ability to accept more food donations to meet current and expanded needs. After the expansion is complete, CAPK’s Food Bank will be able to add even more partner distribution sites to its list, so more of the City of Bakersfield and underserved and rural communities in Kern County can be fed. The CAPK Food Bank tries to accept all food offered to meet the immense food needs in Kern County. With the CAPK Food Bank operating at capaci-
ty, additional space is needed to receive and store food donation until they can be distributed through the network of partner distribution sites. With recent additional partners and food drives such as the Kern County Fair Feed the Need Campaign that resulted in nearly 50,000 pounds of canned goods and over 6,000 pounds of donated frozen meat from the livestock auctions collected in 2018, and other drives and donations that result in tens of thousands of pounds of canned and dry food, storage space is at a premium. CAPK doesn’t have room to run all of their critical programs out of the existing Food Bank warehouse. We currently lease three additional warehous-
es to meet the needs of our programs. For the essential Food2Door program for seniors, we spend an additional $4,449.00 a month to lease a 6,000 sq. ft. building—located one-half mile away from the main warehouse—to receive, store, and assemble more than 8,000 senior food boxes each month. The separate warehouse arrangements are not efficient operationally and takes valuable resources—money, time, volunteers—to travel back and forth between locations. We’ve incorporated the need to move this outside warehouse storage space into our current plans for expansion.
Emergency and Community-Wide Disasters Food banks are more than just placeholders for food. In a crisis situation, food banks are often asked to receive emergency supplies and items during community-wide disasters. As seen through past and current emergency situations—wildfires, drought,
freezes, economic downturns, earthquakes, and the COVID-19 pandemic—the need to be prepared for emergencies should always be addressed. During these events, the CAPK Food Bank might take in bottled water, baby food, cleaning supplies, hygiene items, www.capk.org
pet food and supplies, and personal protective equipment (PPE). The Food Bank needs to have space to receive these critical supplies at a moment’s notice.
Feed Kern Now 15
