Dozens of boxes of food sit inside a food warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
Richard Graves, locally known as "The Chip Guy," stands next to a box of potato chips inside the food warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
Richard Graves, locally known as "The Chip Guy," holds a cluster of tomatoes in front of dozens of boxes of food at the food warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
Richard Graves, locally known as "The Chip Guy," shows with his hands the layout of the warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
Richard Graves points to a loaf of french bread inside the food warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
Richard Graves stands in front of a pallet of potato chips inside the food warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
Richard Graves, locally known as "The Chip Guy," pulls out a strip of paper used for Keurig K-cups inside the food warehouse Tuesday night in Centralia.
When food banks have taken all they need from the God’s Portion warehouse in Centralia, Richard Graves — better known online as The Chip Guy — and a group of volunteers open the warehouse to the public.
The God’s Portion warehouse, located in Centralia, acts as a “food bank for food banks,” Graves said. Companies such as Franz Bakery, Kettle Chips, Green Mountain Coffee and Pepsi donate food and beverages to God’s Portion to be distributed to area food banks each week. However, the companies often donate more than the food banks can accept, whether it’s a matter of having too much of a specific item — such as chips or soda — or taking in too much produce that could in turn go to waste.
{{tncms-inline content="<p class="p2"><span class="s1">The warehouse is located at 1025 F St. in Centralia. It is open on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday at 3 p.m. with an open ended closing time. For more information about The Chip Guy and specific openings throughout the week, follow his page on Facebook.<span class="Apple-converted-space">&nbsp;</span></span></p>" id="c341ea9b-f2a4-427a-a8c0-34b10d46d58f" style-type="info" title="About the Warehouse" type="relcontent"}}
Instead of letting thousands of pounds of consumable food be sent to pig farms, God’s Portion asked Graves to open the warehouse to the public in order to give people a chance to get the food before the pigs do.
“We have an overabundance of stuff,” Graves said. “I’m literally just an overflow guy.”
Twice a week, the doors open to the public to offer bread, chips, produce and soda. When the doors close, the warehouse still has leftovers, Graves said. The leftovers are sent to local pig farms to make room for the next influx of food.
“The animals get tons of food a week,” he said.
Graves started helping God’s Portion distribute the leftover chips after it contacted his church looking for help. He drove his pickup and a trailer to Yelm, where the warehouse was located, to gather the chips. On his first trip, he picked up more than 23,000 bags of chips and distributed them to people throughout the area.
“I’m known throughout town as The Chip Guy,” he said.
When Graves would stop for gas, get something to eat or get his tires fixed at Les Schwab, he would talk to people and offer them a couple bags of BBQ chips, he said. At first, people were hesitant or confused, but they would often soon warm up to the offer and accept it.
Eventually, God’s Portion relocated its warehouse to 1025 F St. in Centralia. Graves was given a key to it and was asked to help distribute only the BBQ Kettle Chips and nothing else. Then, he was asked to help give out all the flavors of chips. He was eventually asked to help distribute all the remaining food.
Although the warehouse supplies food banks, it is not a food bank when it opens to the general public, Graves said. Everyone is welcome regardless of income. People are asked to sign in and write down the number of people in their family. A bucket for donations is placed next to the sign-in sheet, but a donation is not required to get food.
Growing up, Graves said he remembers going to a food bank with his family. They would get one box of food for the month, which would provide around three meals. The warehouse is normally open twice a week, on Wednesday and Saturday, for people to come and get shopping carts full of food.
“If you are hungry, we want you here,” Graves said.
One phrase he cannot stand is “save it for someone who needs it,” because there is enough food for everyone, he said. Graves said everyone can save money on bread, produce and chips. Instead of spending $100 at the store for the food, donate $5 at the warehouse and get the food then take the family out to eat or play, he suggested.
Graves works at a scrapyard full time and at a bowling alley part time. When he is not at work or home, he is more often than not at the warehouse. He loves it.
As a self described “people person,” Graves is like a kid in a candy store around people. He tries to genuinely get to know them. While people are waiting in line for food, he will often go out and give them estimates on how much longer they have to wait. Then, he tells them this is the perfect opportunity to get to know the people around them in line. While he helps to feed the community, the community helps to feed his soul, he said.
About God’s Portion: In Its Own Words
From godsportion.org
We give large volumes of food products to other food banks, organizations that distribute food, and to groups that prepare and serve meals. We serve food banks in Kent, Tacoma, Centralia, South Seattle, Longview, Kelso, Packwood, Raymond, Tacoma, Yelm and much, much more.
A large portion of our work is obtaining the food we give away. We have a network of many companies that donate. Some of our products are delivered to us but we also operate a group of trucks and semis that make several trips a week bringing in the supplies from multiple locations in and out of state.
Donate
Although we have no salaried personnel, we do have a lot of expenses — our operating budget exceeds $200,000 annually. As an example: fuel, maintenance and insurance for our trucks exceed $100,000 a year per truck. We make a constant effort to seek out grant money, but a hefty portion of our funding comes from individuals and small companies.
Give Food
We welcome all donations. This can include a bag of things purchased along with your regular groceries or extra produce from your garden. Perhaps you are in a position with your company to send surplus or rejected shipments as a tax write off. However you give, it goes to the people who need it most.
Volunteer
We need CDL and box truck drivers, gleaners, mechanics and grant writers. If you have time and a skill that you think would be useful to us and you would like to contribute, please let us know. We need your help.
Distribution Center
Our distribution center exists to supply food to organizations that serve individuals and families. Although the offering varies, it always includes fresh fruits and vegetables, meat, dairy, bread and oftentimes, even something for the family pet. The organizations we support in various communities also include drug and alcohol rehabilitation facilities, senior centers, and groups that prepare meals to serve those in need.
We have over 200 volunteers, 60 of whom are regular volunteers. These people work as gleaners of the food that comes in, as truck drivers and other trades that provide maintenance on our vehicles and equipment. We have office help and people running forklifts. All of this is donated labor. There are no paid staff people. Despite our limitations, we distribute 1,000,000 pounds of food a month, with about 60 percent fit for human consumption. Food unfit for human consumption never goes to waste – it’s sent to local family farms where it’s used to feed animals or for soil enrichment, diverting hundreds of thousands of pounds of food that would otherwise have been sent to landfills.
About the Warehouse
The warehouse is located at 1025 F St. in Centralia. It is open on Wednesday from 5 to 7 p.m. and on Saturday at 3 p.m. with an open ended closing time. For more information about The Chip Guy and specific openings throughout the week, follow his page on Facebook.
