About Bellingham Food Bank
Who We Serve
You might be surprised to learn who asks Bellingham Food Bank for help in feeding their family. Did you know that most recipients waiting in line at the food bank also work?
- 15% of all families in the Bellingham city limits use the food bank at least once a year
- 50% of food bank recipients are children or senior citizens
- 60% of food bank families skip or cut the size of meals on a weekly basis
Every month Bellingham Food Bank receives more than 10,200 visits and responds by handing out more than 225,000 pounds of food.
What We Do
Bellingham Food Bank supplies groceries to anyone living in Bellingham. Families can visit once a week for as long as they need assistance, and they receive a mix of perishable and non-perishable food based on the food pyramid.
We also serve as the warehouse for more than one dozen small, rural food banks throughout Whatcom County. Each year, Bellingham Food Bank receives, stores, and distributes more than 500,000 pounds of food to partner food banks.
Additionally we educate the community about local hunger issues. Our staff members are available to talk to school, civic, business, and other community groups.
How We Do It
Bellingham Food Bank relies on support from the community to meet our mission. Our small staff is supported by more than 200 volunteers. Each week the food bank “rescues” thousands of pounds of produce, dairy, and bread from local grocery store donors. Local food drives, gardeners, and farmers’ surplus also help feed Bellingham’s hungry families.
Bellingham Food Bank also receives and depends on generous monetary donations to feed our community. We purchase tons of food each month, including food from food bank distributors that sell at extremely low prices. We also “target purchase” food that we routinely run short of such as milk, frozen protein, and baby food. Because of our purchasing power, we can usually buy 1,000 pounds of food with $100.
Where We Do It: Our Green-Built Food Bank
Our 10,000-square-foot facility, which opened in 2006, was designed and built using the LEED certification process. LEED, an acronym for Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design, is an internationally-recognized program that regulates "green" buildings. A LEED-certified building offers many benefits to its occupants and the environment. Increased indoor air quality, water-efficient fixtures, solar lighting, and proximity to public transporation are just a few examples of LEED elements incorporated at Bellingham Food Bank.
For more information on LEED elements and credits for our food bank building, click here.
