CHARLESTON, W.Va. — Officials with the Mountaineer Food Bank are excited about the possibilities they now have on the west side of Charleston. Charleston City Council approved the transfer last week of a project to renovate the former Save-A-Lot grocery store to the food bank after the after previous plans to repurpose the now closed store fell through.
The city needed to handle the transfer because money for the project had been granted through the American Rescue Plan. Mountaineer Food Bank was a qualified program which kept the ARPA grant intact.
Previously the vision was for a community health clinic in the store. That vision has now changed into a food distribution facility, but Mountaineer Food Bank CEO Chad Morrison said the full extent of what the store will become is undetermined. Morrison said the first thing they’ll do after the facility is renovated is move their volunteer center from Poca to Charleston’s west side.
“The other half of it is really yet to be determined. We’re going to be taking our time and really exploring this with the community and figure out how we can best support people in the Charleston area,” Morrison said.
He said they have a number of events planned in the coming months and will do a lot of listening to partners, stakeholders and residents of the west side to make sure they put the right services in place.
“We don’t want to come in and say we have the solution, because we don’t. We want to listen to the community and hear what they think is the best way we can support them,” he explained.
Previously a medical clinic was part of the idea, but Morrison said the more likely plan now will be something tied in with food.
“Anything we do has some food overtone to it, but I think some of the opportunities that could be present is youth education, cooking opportunities, and a whole lot of other possibilities on that other half of the store,” he said.
Save-A-Lot was a grocery store which served the west side for many years. There are still coolers and other grocery equipment in the building, but unfortunately Morrison said that equipment won’t be useable because of its age. However, the location and the access for large trucks is a huge benefit and a necessity for moving the amount of food the facility distributes all across West Virginia.