Interior Flood Shuts Down Food Bank At Serve Wenatchee

The food bank at one of the Wenatchee Valley's most active charitable organizations is scrambling to stay afloat following a major flood.

Serve Wenatchee (Serve) executive director, Mike Malmin, says the incident at their main offices and food bank at 12 Orondo Avenue happened sometime in the wee hours of Tuesday morning.

"It was a main line to the fire suppression system in the building that ruptured. The restoration company that's here this morning surveying the damage said they have never seen that much water coming out of a pipe into a building. In fact, the police were actually the ones who identified it when officers were driving down Columbia (Avenue) they saw water cascading down the hill. It's estimated that the water got up to three feet high inside the building with the front door operating as a dam until police arrived and opened it up."

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Malmin says the flood caused significant damage to the entire building, including Serve's office spaces and its Fresh Hope Market food bank.

"We had a fully-stocked market in there with both perishable and non-perishable items. We think that many of the non-perishable items will be salvageable but the non-perishable things are a complete loss, and the market itself probably can't be occupied for at least several months."

As a result of the flood and the damage it caused, Malmin says Serve is now in the process of trying to find an alternative location to open a temporary food market for those in need.

"It's a particularly challenging time in the Valley. There's been a reduction in a lot of food service recently with the Lighthouse (Ministries) shutting down their food bank location, so this is just another - albeit temporary, challenge for folks in our area who are trying to put enough food on the table. So our first job right now in the wake of all this is to find a temporary location for us to operate so we can continue helping those who are in need."

Despite the setback, Malmin says all other regular and seasonal services through Serve Wenatchee will continue as planned.

"We may be curtailed right now at our Fresh Hope Market and food delivery, but we will continue to offer furniture and rental assistance for those in need. Also, the major events that we have upcoming like Baskets of Blessing and Glory of Christmas will not be impacted by this situation, since we conduct those at local churches and we also still have a warehouse space where we can store items."

For those who are in need of immediate assistance of services other than food from Serve Wenatchee, Malmin says people should call their offices at 509-663-4673 and leave a message, since they still have access to their phone system via remote means.

Malmin says people can still make donations of non-perishable food items as well, since they can be stored at Serve's warehouse until a method for temporary distribution can be established.

Serve already has a food drive event scheduled for Oct. 16 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. for people to drop off donations of non-perishable food, toiletries, and diapers at the Safeway and Grocery Outlet stores in both Wenatchee and East Wenatchee; Albertsons in Wenatchee; and Fred Meyer in East Wenatchee.