Food Bank Corner

Published 1:30 am Thursday, July 16, 2026

By Rev. Warren Johnson,

Board President

Another month has gone by, and I want to catch you up on some of the things happening at the Food Bank.

First, the garden beds, as you can see in the picture, are really flourishing as we continue building up the soil before planting. We should be harvesting some of the vegetables soon. We currently have four beds, as there was not enough time to prepare additional beds while our volunteer base continues to grow. In addition to maintaining the beds, we have been mowing and weed-eating the community garden to keep it looking its best.

Next year, the garden could become a great resource, giving our clients an opportunity to volunteer and give back to the Food Bank. The garden is only one aspect of everything that has been happening.

I want to share June’s numbers with you:

Total clients served: 2,618

Total households served: 977

Pounds of food distributed: 23,617

Pounds of food donated: 39,038

Volunteer hours donated: 695

As you can see from these numbers, our partner agencies, including Food Lifeline, Northwest Harvest, the Mormon Church, the Port Angeles and Sequim food banks, and our many local donors, play a major role in supplying food for our community. We also purchase food to fill in the gaps, ensuring our clients receive well-rounded, nutritious meals.

Our volunteers play a tremendous role in keeping operating costs down. We currently have more than 30 volunteers on our call list, allowing us to bring in extra help as workloads fluctuate and keep the Food Bank running smoothly.

The volunteer hours listed above do not include the countless hours donated by our Board of Directors. Behind the scenes, they work diligently to support the Executive Director and Operations Manager. Our 13-member board serves on subcommittees including Operations, Finance, Bylaws, and Hiring. These committees meet as needed, while the full board meets every three months to review committee work and make final decisions.

Our collaboration with other food banks continues to grow stronger. Communication is a key component of our success as we serve as a distribution center for several neighboring food banks.

We are also considering expanding our hours by opening on Wednesdays from 5 to 7 p.m. to better serve working families who are unable to visit during our current daytime hours. We want to make sure we are reaching those families who are working hard but still having difficulty making ends meet.

Everything is a work in progress, but we are making great headway and are getting close to hiring a new manager.

Please stop by for a tour of your community Food Bank. We’d love to show you around and hear your thoughts so we can continue improving our service to the community.

Current Food Bank Hours

Tuesday: 3–5 p.m.

Thursday: 12–5 p.m.

For more information, visit our website at www.forkscfb.org.