Birchwood Food Desert Fighters’ goal of owning, operating delivery truck nears finish line

The Birchwood Food Desert Fighters (BFDF), a group working to address food insecurity in Bellingham’s Birchwood neighborhood, is searching for funding from the community to support the operation of the group’s newly donated food truck.

The group was formed eight years ago in 2016 after Albertsons, the neighborhood’s only grocery store, closed and formed a “food desert” in Birchwood , one of Bellingham’s most economically and ethnically diverse areas.

“After eight years of finagling all of our food and supply pickups and deliveries with two to four cars every week, Birchwood Food Desert Fighters is finally getting a truck!” the GoFundMe webpage states.

“It feels like such a huge relief,” said Tina McKim, one of the group’s founding steering committee members, in an interview with The Bellingham Herald.

BFDF organizes local food and garden-sharing networks while also meeting immediate food needs in the neighborhood by hosting weekly food distributions and stocking eight community food share boxes.

“The group distributes roughly 1 to 1.5 tons of food and supplies out to the community every week free of charge. Our mutual aid project gets fresh produce, home-style meals and more out to 100-150 households a week,” the GoFundMe states.

The truck is being donated to BFDF by the Ferndale Food Bank , which is updating its vehicle fleet. Now BFDF is trying to raise money to pay for “insurance, tabs, a paint job/letter removal, gas, and regular maintenance,” according to the GoFundMe.

McKim said the group was looking into purchasing a used truck but was struggling to find the funds to make such a large purchase.

“This really took a huge burden off of us,” McKim told The Herald. “They are being so generous with this donation.”

As of Friday, Sept. 6, the GoFundMe had raised $200 of its total goal of $4,575.

“Anything extra raised will be used to purchase more food for the community during the off season when we are not receiving produce donations from local farms,” the GoFundMe states.

A non-compete clause imposed by Albertsons barred another grocery store from moving into the same shopping center through 2038. Bellingham banned these kinds of property restrictions related to grocery stores in 2019, but its ordinance could not apply retroactively.

Albertsons removed the restrictions in June after a recent investigation by Washington State Attorney General Bob Ferguson determined the land restrictions on the site are illegal.

The property has been sold twice since Albertsons closed its store in 2016 and is currently a Big Lots! discount store.

McKim said the group is thrilled about the possibility of a good grocery store moving back into the neighborhood. But any changes there will take time and McKim said the efforts of the Birchwood Fighters will still be necessary.

“Since the COVID-19 pandemic, people have just not caught up,” McKim said. “There are people working multiple jobs who can’t afford to eat and there are people who are unhoused and can’t afford to eat. More and more of our neighbors are unable to make ends meet through no fault of their own.”

“Our goal is to grow this food sovereignty in the neighborhood so that people are able to access good food with dignity and access food with choice that is appropriate to their needs,” McKim said.