Fort Bragg Advocate-News/Staff
A new big bobtail delivery truck will allow the Fort Bragg Food Bank to carry a lot more food and share with other food banks around the county and nearby areas.
Thanks to the gifts of generous community members, the Food Bank was able to buy the $105,000 truck.
“This truck is absolutely essential so that we can continue to pick up significant quantities of donated food from the Santa Rosa Food Bank [and other sources],” said Food Bank Executive Director Nancy Severy. “We”ll also be using the new truck to deliver USDA commodities to about a dozen food pantries and soup kitchens all around Mendocino County.”
Although one major donor insisted on remaining anonymous, the Food Bank wanted to thank donors Wells Fargo Bank and Divine Assistants International.
About five years ago, the Food Bank started making modest annual deposits to a capital replacement reserve, knowing that all of its trucks were becoming decrepit.
“This spring, Food Bank Board President Dan Fowler wrote a letter to the community asking for help with the last bit of funding we needed to be able to go ahead and purchase a new truck. Our wonderful community stepped up to the plate. We received many donations large and small. There were too many generous donors to list them all,” said Severy.
The old truck often ended up following a tow truck back to Jack”s Muffler for repairs, resulting in food needed by clients not being available.
“The new truck is a lot more of a truck than our old one. It will carry over 9,000 pounds of food whereas our old refrigerated truck carried only 3,400 pounds. This extra payload will increase our efficiency and reduce per-pound transport costs significantly, as well as enabling us to secure larger quantities of food for Food Bank families,” Severy said.
