A new home for the Vashon Food Bank

Published 1:30 am Wednesday, March 18, 2026

Dozens of community members gathered beneath falling snow on Friday, March 13, for a ribbon-cutting ceremony opening the Vashon Food Bank’s new location uptown.

Although construction on the new facility began in July, food bank staff said the event marked the culmination of years of planning, design and fundraising to create a more centrally-located space that the community can feel proud of.

Staff welcomed islanders into the facility following the ceremony, where they were introduced to the space — featuring wide open aisles, ample shelving, abundant natural light, and a substantial warehouse — all carefully designed to feel both modern and welcoming.

“Our vision and goal for this entire project was to take the compassion and dignity and care that we offer people through human interactions at the current food bank, and bring that same care and compassion for our community to a facility that is safer, more dignified, more accessible,” Executive Director Emily Scott said to the crowd.

Speaking before a packed audience, King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda called the community’s investment in the food bank an act of resistance as new federal restrictions on the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, a federal program that helps low-income households buy food, take effect.

“This is truly what it looks like to respond locally to national crises,” Mosqueda said. “What you are doing here is providing that security, that stability, that hope, that opportunity.”

In the facility’s loading dock, a new feature that was not available at the previous location, community members and staff posed for photos holding up apples passed out upon entry — a tradition Scott said began at the ground-breaking ceremony in July.

Scott said the old building at Sunrise Ridge, which had housed the food bank for more than 40 years, couldn’t accommodate essential equipment that makes tasks like unloading heavy boxes from trucks easier, and was increasingly unable to meet the growing needs of islanders.

The Sunrise Ridge site also lacked ADA accessibility, was not on the main bus line and had aging, deteriorating buildings, Scott said.

Apart from ease of operations and increased accessibility, staff also echoed the idea that islanders deserve an uplifting space they can feel excited to shop in. “We should be able to offer people a more dignified experience than we were able to at our current location,” Scott said.

The site also includes an additional 3,500 square foot building to serve as a community resource hub, housing Vashon Youth & Family Services, along with other partner agencies. Scott says the space will help meet the food bank’s vision to “offer people as many different resources in one space as possible.”

Vashon Food Bank currently partners with island organizations like the Vashon Library, Granny’s Attic, and Vashon Island Pet Protectors, offering free pet food, books, clothing, and other resources. The new space will serve as a convenient one-stop shop for these services, with more room to expand.

During the week leading up to the opening, Volunteer Program Manager Talia Lionetti says staff and volunteers worked twice as hard to move resources into the new building, while still remaining open for in-person shopping at the old location on Wednesday, and for home deliveries on Thursday.

Staff members said it was critical that they were able to shift operations to the new location without disrupting shopping for those who rely on their resources.

“Almost a fifth of the island relies on this to some degree for their food, and even though this was a huge job, we didn’t want that to impact people’s ability to access food,” Interim Deputy Director Debra Gussin said.

On the day of the ceremony, Scott said 85% of the warehouse was moved into the new location. The store will be open for its first day of in-person shopping Wednesday March 18.

During the event, speakers highlighted the importance of community resource hubs like the Vashon Food Bank amid changes to SNAP.

In 2025, Congress passed H.R. 1, which changed SNAP by imposing stricter work requirements, extending them to some older adults and other groups previously exempt, and reducing benefits for some households.

Early this year, the Washington State Department of Social and Health Services reported that 129,000 Washingtonians are projected to lose benefits if they fail to meet new work requirements (tinyurl.com/322mbf5h).

Even before changes to SNAP were imposed, demand for the food bank had already been increasing over the past several years in the aftermath of the COVID-19 pandemic, Scott said.

While consumer prices are up in all U.S. metro areas, Scott says the last thing people should have to sacrifice is access to nutritious food.

Standing alongside Vashon United Methodist Church Pastor Patricia Longstroth, staff members, Councilmember Mosqueda, and Chautauqua Elementary School students, Scott snipped the ribbon, the crowd cheered, and the wait was over.

”One of the things that I love about this Vashon community is that we show up to care for and support one another,” Longstroth told the crowd. “We know how to love our neighbors here.”