(WSB/WCN photos)

We’ve shown you the mural-enhanced exterior of the White Center Food Bank‘s new home – tonight we got a chance to look inside. On this icy-cold night, the WCFB threw a housewarming party of sorts, less than a week after officially starting operations in the new building.

It has a lot more room for storage and service than the WCFB’s old space at 8th/108th, from which they had to move because of its impending redevelopment as affordable-housing and community-space project “The HUB.” The new location at 10016 16th SW was revealed in fall 2022.

Six months after that, remodeling construction began, and now their shiny new facility is in use, with room to grow.

It’s full of reminders that the work is about people – not just the 95,000+ they serve each year, but also the many who volunteer – they have an upgraded space in the new HQ too:

The front rooms are full of welcoming messages:

The community members in attendance tonight included dignitaries – below with WCFB executive director Carmen Smith are new District 8 King County Councilmember Teresa Mosqueda, 34th District State Senator Joe Nguyễn, and Mosqueda’s predecessor, Joe McDermott:

The grand opening isn’t quite the finish line for the move.

WCFB is three-fourths of the way to its fundraising goal for the new location. and expanded vision, explained here. It’s a regional resource, as the food bank serves south West Seattle as well as White Center and vicinity.