Loaves and Fishes is looking to expand their work across Vancouver Island through a new multi-million dollar facility. (Loaves and Fishes)

By Alex Rawnsley

NEW WAREHOUSE

Multi-million dollar Loaves and Fishes facility in Nanaimo one step closer to reality

Jan 31, 2021 | 7:13 AM

NANAIMO — An ambitious multi-million dollar project for Nanaimo’s Loaves and Fishes Community Food Bank took its first step forward.

The food bank secured $95,000 in funding on Wednesday, Jan. 27, from the Regional District of Nanaimo’s zero waste recycling program for a brand new 28,000 square foot facility.

Peter Sinclair, executive director for Loaves and Fishes, told NanaimoNewsNOW they’re outgrowing their existing Fry St. warehouse.

“We’ve been accessing an abundance of food for years but it’s really ramped up over the last couple of years and we’ve come to a point where we need a larger facility to handle the amount of food that’s out there.”

A specific site for the new facility was identified with negotiations underway to purchase it. Sinclair expected the land alone to cost roughly $1.4 million with the warehouse construction between $5 and $10 million.

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Sinclair hopes to open the new warehouse in two to three years time.

The new facility is crucial to the food bank’s future operations and goals.

“As we access this abundance of food, we have to make sure we have the mechanisms to make sure we can get this food out to people and that’s why we’re focused on serving these other communities because there is this food available but we need to make sure it can get to the people who can use it.”

Loaves and Fishes acts as a hub facility for Food Banks BC and Food Banks Canada, helping smaller operations across Vancouver Island, the Gulf Islands and Powell River.

It delivers nearly 140,000 pounds of food to households on the Island every month.

Between 3,000 and 3,500 people in nearly 2,000 Nanaimo households receive food from Nanaimo Loaves and Fishes monthly.

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alex.rawnsley@jpbg.ca

On Twitter: @alexrawnsley