The West Seattle Foodbank will introduce it's new "shopping distribution model" on Feb. 7 letting people walk through the aisles of the facility and get what they need, at their own pace. The WSFB also announced the new longer hours for shoppers and others as follows:

• Tuesday: 9am-1pm (Seniors 55+ only)
• Wednesday: 12-7pm
• Thursday: 9am-2pm
• Friday: 10am-2pm

Original Post 12-14-16
Food banks in general are not much like grocery stores. The reasons for that are multiple including the way food is gathered acquired initially, in part by donation, the need to control the amount and type distributed to serve the most people in the best way, and the need for volunteer labor to manage the whole process.

But starting February 1, The West Seattle Food Bank will be converting from their current distribution method to a color coded "shopping experience" aimed at making the entire process more respectful for users.

The food bank began in 1983, first at Jefferson School, then on Genesee Street and moved to their current home at the corner of 35th and Morgan Street SW in 2007. Over time a distribution method was developed that evolved into a system based on the number of family members and stations for protein, dairy, produce, grains and pastry. Other items such as diapers, formula and baby food are given out too. The way it works currently is that a volunteer hands out numbers then calls them out and people come up to the tables and say what they want from what is available. There is a direct interaction with the volunteer.

The new system, which Fran Yeatts Executive Director of WSFB says, "will take some getting used to" is color coded and involves organizing items by color then issuing a card to clients who will go through the aisles and shelves to select their own items. For example a client might take 2 items from the blue shelves, 3 from the yellow, and 1 from the green, based on the size of their family.

The color coding is one part of making language less important but WSFB also plans to have helpers on staff, skilled in various languages to explain the new process plus some visual aids to explain how it all works.

WSFB will also greatly expand their hours. "Right now we are open basically eight hours a week," for client food distribution said Yeatts, "but we are going to change that to 20 hours week and four days a week, so Tuesday through Friday we'll have shopping hours. We will still have late hours on Wednesday." The exact hours are still being determined.

Canned food or cash? What's the best way to help?

There's a certain satisfaction, it's understood, to donating canned food or other food to food drives and food banks. It feels substantial and charities never want to discourage those kind of donations. It all helps. But the average consumer is often buying those canned goods at four to five times the bulk price that can be obtained by the food bank itself.

The money you spent on tuna or cranberry sauce, even on sale might have purchased four times worth as much if it was spent by a food bank buyer whose only job is to buy food as cheaply as possible.

The truth is that sorting the various food types, often in unequal amounts, transporting the food, and dealing with other logistics is time consuming and costly.

Food banks know that people go through their shelves seeking food to donate, and that canned and packaged food collected through drives is an important source, and get the psychology of donating something real and substantial. But if you truly want to help in the best way possible, a tax deductible check, especially during the holidays and just after when donations typically drop, is the best way. You can donate online here.

Current Food Distribution hours:
Seniors (55 & over)
Tuesdays 9:00 a.m. – 11:00 am
General Public
Wednesdays 4:00 p.m. – 7:00 pm
Thursdays 10:00 a.m. – 1:00 pm

Business and Donation Hours:
Monday – Friday
9:00 a.m. – 3:00 pm
Wednesday
9:00 a.m. – 7:00 pm
or by appointment