Local food bank takes ownership of old Latter-day Saint meetinghouse. Take a look inside

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IDAHO FALLS – An old meetinghouse for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints is now the home of the Idaho Falls Community Food Basket.

In October, the church announced it was donating a 17,389-square-foot building at 351 West 14th Street to the food bank. Church representatives officially transferred ownership Wednesday afternoon to the Regional Council for Christian Ministry, which owns the food basket.

“What a special, historic and wonderful day,” Jane Kaestner, president of the Regional Council for Christian Ministry, said at a news conference. “Such an answer to prayer and such a wonderful gift where words of thanks and appreciation don’t seem adequate.”

Ariel Jackson, the food basket’s executive director, says the number of people using its services surpasses the number who were struggling at the height of the pandemic. Many of them are escaping domestic violence situations or working two or three jobs to try and make ends meet. Many disabled and elderly people also benefit from the food basket.

The new building is more than 13 times the size of the current location at 245 North Placer Avenue. The nonprofit is planning to move into the space after renovations.

“We will be installing a loading dock (by the south entrance) for our 26-foot truck to be able to drop off pallets of food. We’ll be installing double doors in the back of the building so that we can get in and out, and a ramp so that our rescued food that we get from the grocery store can get in and out of the building,” Jackson says.

They’re also planning to remove the carpet so carts and pallets can move freely over the concrete floor.

All the renovations are expected to cost between $85,000 and $100,000, which will be paid for by grants and donations from the community. Jackson hopes to secure the funding soon so they can move into the building this spring or early summer.

The room that once served as a gymnasium will serve as a new shopping style food bank where families can come and get the food they need, much as they would at a grocery store.

“That ensures they can meet their own dietary guidelines. It provides a sense of dignity and some measure of control over the food they’re receiving and some one-on-one time for our volunteers with patrons to talk to them about other needs they may have so we can refer them out to other services,” says Jackson.

Food will be stored in a room near the south entrance, and the kitchen will be used for cooking classes to show patrons how to cook and prepare some of the items.

The chapel will remain intact for interfaith and other community events, and a lot of the classrooms will be used as office space for other nonprofits, like Friends in Service Here, an organization that helps the homeless, poor and less fortunate in Bonneville County. The Happyville Farm, which supplies produce to the food basket, will also have office space inside the building. Other organizations will rent space as well.

“I like to call it a nonprofit superstore so that people aren’t driving all over town to find services. They’ll be able to find them in one location,” Jackson says.

Watch the video above for a look inside.

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