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SPRINGVILLE — Ginette Bott, president and CEO of Utah Food Bank, said food bank workers noticed some inefficiencies after the pandemic and decided to make changes to adjust to the growing population.
A new Utah Food Bank location — the Timpanogos Distribution Center — opened in Springville Thursday to allow the organization to bring more programs to Utah County and help people living throughout central Utah.
Bott said this is not the only new addition; at the same time, the Utah Food Bank purchased a warehouse immediately west of its South Salt Lake location, doubled the size of its facility in St. George, built a distribution center and pantry in San Juan County, built two pantries on the Navajo reservation, and are building a Hurricane Valley pantry in Washington County.
Utah Gov. Spencer Cox said as a child he would go with his family to a bulk food store and his mom would use a calculator to track every penny they spent, and tried to make the food last as long as possible. He did not know at the time that was not how everyone shopped for groceries.
Now the governor said he understands what his dad was talking about when he would say, "Remember who you are and where you came from." He said he is looking for ways to remember that his life has not always been like it is now.
"It's really easy to forget what true need is," he said Thursday.
Cox said Utah leads the nation in charitable giving, and in the past has had more donations than storage space, so some donations went to other states. With the new facility, more donations will be kept in the state to help Utahns.
Cox quoted the first territorial governor of Utah, Brigham Young, who said, "Prayer is good, but when baked potatoes and pudding and milk are needed, prayer will not supply their place."
He said this is a good reminder to work on providing food, "probably nonperishables."
He commented on how close the new Utah Food Bank warehouse is to the freeway, and how prominent its logo is. It shows two hands reaching out to each other in the shape of a heart.
"It's the best representation, I think, of who we are as Utahns. It's heart and hands," he said. "We have the heart, we have the compassion, but we also roll up our sleeves and get our hands dirty."
Cox said rather than waiting for government to build the new building, Utahns stepped forward and volunteered and donated time, labor and skills. He said the Utah Food Bank is the "Amazon of food pantries" and the logistics of its expansion take a lot of people with vision and good leadership.
Springville Mayor Matthew Packard said city leaders are grateful for the visibility of the food bank — one that it isn't tucked away but can be seen by everyone traveling on the freeway.
"We're so grateful that you're here, and we hope that you always feel welcome in whatever interaction you have with the city, and also with the citizens," he said.
In the area around the facility, the number of people who need food is increasing, Bott said. She has heard about the need from partners in Utah County.
"We're here to enhance and to help," she said. "This will be a great opportunity for us to have the ability to travel more effectively, to get to these locations more often, and to be able to really help and serve on a broader scope than we have by trying to do one truckload at a time."
In addition to recognizing the companies that helped build the facility, Bott thanked two families for personal donations, the Larry H. and Gail Miller Family Foundation and Mike and Jan Littlefield, a Salt Lake couple who did not have children and left their inheritance to the Utah Food Bank. She said the donation from the Littlefield family helped build a kitchen at the distribution center that will feed children for generations.
