FIND Food Bank just completed a major expansion of its Indio campus, with a new warehouse intended to prevent the nonprofit from running out of food during times of greatest need.
The organization hosted a grand opening ceremony for its 40,000-square-foot Food Security Campus on Friday, Sept. 26, bringing together many of the people who helped make the new space possible as well as community members.
“This building was built with love and passion from all different people around the community that support and believe in the mission of FIND Food Bank, ensuring that people that are food insecure know where their next meal is coming from,” FIND’s President and CEO Debbie Espinosa told The Desert Sun at the event. “There has been so much care in this building and facility because they knew the meaning of what it was going to do.”
The new building will complement the 38,000-square-foot facility Find operates next door, expanding its food storage capacity while also allowing the nonprofit to run workforce development programs for those hoping to enter the workforce.
“We want them to be able to learn in our facility, to be able to bring themselves up to the level where they would be hirable at any for-profit corporation, to be able to better themselves and their family,” Espinoza said.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, FIND saw demand for its food increase from 12 million pounds per year to 30 million pounds, causing leaders to focus on expanding its facilities. The roughly $8.5 million project has been under development for the last two years, with construction lasting about a year.
“It’s an honor to be part of this, and it’s great to be able to showcase what’s been going on now and in the future to help our community,” said Bill Sanchez, founder and president of Capital Builders, an Indio-based contracting company. “We’re really proud of that.”
FIND Food Bank aids around 125,000 people each month from the western edge of the Coachella Valley to the Arizona border. It now distributes around 20 million pounds of food annually. Much of that goes to other nonprofits, who have no other source for free food.
“It’s amazing, how much its grown,” said Becky Kaminaka, the daughter of Wayne Robinson, who founded FIND in 1983 by delivering bread to homeless people in his neighborhood. “(My father) would be happy that FIND has grown this much, but at the same time, like so many people say, we’d rather be out of a job and there would be no need for it.”
FIND eventually grew to become the main destination for food distribution, moving to Indio in 2009 after a fire at its previous Cathedral City location.
The new building is a further expansion of its mission, but also a reminder of food insecurity in and around the Coachella Valley.
Of the roughly 625,000 people in FIND Food Bank’s distribution zone, roughly 13% are classified as food insecure by Feeding America, which equates to about 81,250 people.
Sam Morgen covers the city of Palm Springs for The Desert Sun. Reach him at smorgen@gannett.com
This article originally appeared on Palm Springs Desert Sun: FIND Food Bank opens new warehouse in Indio to cope with greater need
Reporting by Sam Morgen, Palm Springs Desert Sun / Palm Springs Desert Sun
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