Greater Chehalis Food Bank Breaking Ground in New Location

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The Greater Chehalis Food Bank will host a kickoff event on Tuesday at 10 a.m. to celebrate the recent groundbreaking at its new location at 750 S.W. 21st Street, behind the main Lewis County Fire District 6 station. 

Greater Chehalis Food Bank Coordinator Jeff Smith said the food bank, which has operated out of Yard Birds since June, was able to move to the long-term location thanks to current food bank funds and donations from Buck Hubbert, Braun Northwest and the St. Timothy Episcopal Church.

Businessman and state senate candidate John Braun, who is helping with the building process, said the new food bank is expected to cost about $265,000.

The Lewis County Food Bank Coalition will also help fund the new building with some if its savings since the coalition agreed to move into the new space, Smith said. 

The coalition, currently located in Centralia, will take 5,000 square feet of the new 7,500-square-foot building. Smith said the coalition’s new location in Chehalis will be closer to all six food banks in the coalition, which will save travel costs and time. 



Volunteer crews are starting to frame the slab for the concrete floor and set the base for the new food bank. Braun said a construction crew from Stirnco Steel, out of Redmond, will come in and finish the project. 

Smith said he hopes to open the new food bank by Dec. 1, just in time for the annual Walk-N-Knock food drive. 

The food bank, which has over 30 volunteers, serves 420 to 520 families each month, and receives a majority of its food from Northwest Harvest and Food Lifeline, Smith said.

The Chehalis Food Bank is a part of the countywide coalition and covers Chehalis, Napavine, the Boistfort Valley and Adna.