鈥業 wanted to cry鈥�: Flooding destroys $20k worth of goods at Port Orchard food pantry
Dec 7, 2023, 7:34 AM
(Photo from 成人X站 7)
(Photo from 成人X站 7)
聽and the flooding that followed is causing big problems for a Kitsap County food bank, at the worst possible time.聽Water destroyed almost all their stored dried goods. That encompasses things like flour, pasta, rice, oatmeal, mac and cheese, and even cookies and crackers. The pantry, the聽, said it only has enough to get through Thursday, anything after that is up in the air.
The South Kitsap Helpline operates out of an old building, it has a crack in the foundation and this will be their third winter without heat. It鈥檚 also not the first time the drain in front of the basement door let water seep in, but Executive Director Jennifer Hardison said this time is by far the worst.
鈥淢y boots aren鈥檛 high enough. I would actually say it鈥檚 12 inches. We have lost a lot of product,鈥� said the first employee to see the flood damage, in a video.
They sent that footage to Hardison Tuesday morning.
鈥淚 just felt sick to my stomach. I wanted to cry.鈥澛� Hardison said. 鈥淭he boxes that were on top of the boxes that were on the bottoms of the pallets and they had all collapsed because the bottoms had collapsed.鈥�
The building鈥檚 basement used to be stocked with dry food.聽The labels marking where the stacks were now sit over empty, waterlogged pallets.聽The only dry food people can take home is what鈥檚 left sitting on the food pantry shelves.
鈥淣ow that we鈥檝e sat back and thought about it, it鈥檚 probably about $20k worth the product or so.聽We give out on average between 60,000 to 90,000 lbs of food every month here,鈥� said Hardison.聽鈥淲e鈥檙e always busy but we鈥檙e especially busy right now with the holidays and people needing extra assistance.鈥�
The water that bubbled up from the drain into the basement took hours to clear out.聽Hardison said that they鈥檇 have to rip up the backyard to fix the drain issue, but it鈥檒l cost a lot. It鈥檚 a cost they can鈥檛 afford to take on because they鈥檙e hoping to build a new facility so they won鈥檛 have to deal with the old building for much longer.
鈥淲e were hoping at this point that house would be demolished and we would be working from our new building by now but that鈥檚 not happened just yet so we鈥檙e just making due,鈥� said Hardison.
She said they want to flatten the old building and build the new facility where their greenhouses are.聽The old building鈥檚 spot will become an expanded parking lot and gardens.
Hardison also said that the new building and footprint is about an $8 million project.聽They have grant writers working to get funding now. To help with that funding head to聽.
They accept food donations every weekday between 10:30 a.m. to 5 p.m. every day except Wednesdays.
