Springbrook Mobile Food Bank

Our mobile food bank makes three 45-minute stops in the Springbrook neighborhood of Lakewood every Saturday:

10:00 a.m.: San Francisco Ave. SW / Lincoln Ave. SW

11:00 a.m.: Boston Ave. SW / Lincoln Ave. SW

12:00 p.m.: Addison Ave. SW / 147th Ave. SW (Springbrook Park)

Volunteers are needed to process food during the week, and to help distribute on Saturdays. Call the St. Leo Food Connection at (253) 383-5048 for more information.

The Springbrook neighborhood was selected by the Lakewood Hunger Task Force because of its high percentage of low-income residents and their difficulty in accessing area food banks. The median household income for the neighborhood’s nearly 4,300 residents is $21,688. Of these families, 32 percent have incomes below the federal poverty level, with 26 percent earning less than $10,000 per year. Barriers to food access for residents include a lack of affordable transportation, limited food resources and social services, and the lack of a neighborhood grocery store.

More than 11,000 Served

Since beginning in late April 2006, the Springbrook Mobile Food Bank has served more than 1,100 households at least once (3,000 household members), with more than 11,000 total clients served from July to December 2006.

We require no proof of need from our clients, serving all Pierce County residents who come to us. However, we are required by some of our funders to track specific demographic information - specifically our clients’ addresses by zip code and the age of household members. We are also required to ask that clients sign The Emergency Food Assistance Program's self-declaration since we include federal commodities in the food we distribute.

Volunteers Are at the Heart of the Springbrook Mobile Foodbank

Springbrook Park volunteers pictured at the first annual Volunteers Appreciation, Oct 2011.

Recently two old friends/volunteers came back to help at Springbrook. Bill was one of the earliest volunteers with Springbrook. When he and his wife lost the motel they were managing/owning here in Lakewood, they were left homeless and in need of legal help. St. Leo's was somehow able to get them on the road to recovery along with turning them onto the Springbrook Mobile. At that point, they still needed food help, and so Bill would come on a regular basis for the distribution — and would stay to volunteer. Needless to say Bill became a fixture. As soon as he and his wife became financially stable not only did he continue to volunteer, but if he thought we were a little shy in the veggie department, he would go out and purchase 50 lb. bags of onions and potatoes to donate. He got a job selling firewood and made it a point to find folks in need through the mobile and give them a special cut-rate deal (sometimes for free). When he and his wife made the difficult decision to move back east, they donated tons of household items and especially items geared toward men (fishing poles, tools, clothes). He and his wife made sure we all had their phone number and they have reached out to us at least once a year. Imagine our surprise to see Bill at the Mobile Food Bank this weekend. He had only been back in town for two days and we were his first stop. Of course he stayed to help and let us know he will be around on a regular basis.