Kent Food Bank and Emergency Services Programs
The Kent Food Bank provides the following client services: food assistance, food delivery service to a low income senior housing complex, emergency food bags off site, two food bank distribution locations, evenings hours, holiday distributions, clothing bank, limitied financial assitance and homeless food bags.
The KFB is open four days a week at the Alliance Center in downtown Kent and operates a second location one day a week in the Birch Creek Apartment Complex on the top of East Hill Kent. The Alliance Center distribution operates M, T, W and F from 10 am - 2 pm with the clothing bank 10-12:30. The Birch Creek Annex is open for distribution of food on Thursdays from 10 am - 1pm. Along with the 19 hours of distribution the food bank is open for 1 hour on the second Wednesday of each month to better accommodate working families with supplemental food. The KFB offers all of our services with a self-select or "shopping" method. Clients may choose their own food from the available resources.
Recent Successes and Current Challenges
In 2010 the food bank was able to upgrade our computer system and hardware to better accommodate our increasing client needs. Our old program was not upgradable and clients had to wait longer in line while we worked around our program. A retired Boeing employee wrote a new program in Access that is completly upgradable and is easier for our volunteers. By doing this clients now wait a fraction of time in line at a food bank. With the high demand and growth in the last few years the food bank has had to be very creative in ways to meet the demands of the high need. The number of clients continues to grow and being able to distribute the same amount of nutitious food to all has been difficult. We rely heavily on donations and the Kent Community has been very genourous and thus far we are doing well and meeting the needs of our clients.