Background of Richmond Food Bank

Richmond Food bank’s history dates back to 1982, located at Richmond Presbyterian Church where it began by storing food for future use. In 1983 Richmond Food Bank was formed when the community’s hunger issues were increasing, and needed to be addressed. In 1992 Richmond Food Bank was located at  #135 – 12417 No. 2 Road in the Steveston Industrial Park, by April 2002 they moved to #7 – 12491 No. 2 Road, and in August 2007 Richmond Food Bank relocated to 100 – 5800 Cedarbridge Way. As time progressed, Richmond Food Bank moved locations to meet the needs of the community, and with each iteration, a larger facility was required to keep up with the hunger demand. The current location is also near public transportation, which improves the accessibility of the food bank.

Richmond Food Bank’s purpose

Richmond Food Bank is here to help residents in need of assistance. Everyone has a different reason why they might require access to Richmond Food Bank, ranging from cut-backs from work to prolonged illness. Regardless of the reason, Richmond Food Bank stands firm that a healthy meal should not be a luxury, but a necessity. As well as distributing food, Richmond Food Bank has a Children’s play area where they allow children to interact with one another. This replicates many of the social aspects that children are exposed to in preschool without a fee to the parents, while they’re in line to pick up food.

Vision Statement

Richmond Food Bank’s Mission:

“To be a caring organization that provides food assistance, advocacy, and related support for community members in need”

Alongside their mission statement, their vision includes:

“A caring community where no one goes hungry”

Project Scope and Goals

Richmond Food Bank would like to improve the efficiency and rate at which food is distributed. Currently, the system in place requires cans to be distributed after softer organic produce, resulting in crushed fruits and vegetables. Our leading objective is to help eliminate this current problem, along with the reduction of “bottle-necking” in line. In many cases, the food distribution lines tend to densify in one particular area causing disorder and eliminating the practicality of the distribution system.  Another primary goal involves remodelling and beautification of the children’s play area. This project scope involves the specific redesign of storage, lighting, and overall aesthetics. Richmond Food Bank hopes that by achieving this goal, the younger individuals can learn and develop in a brighter, happier environment.

Constraints

Non-negotiable constraints include the dimensions allocated for the children’s play area and food distribution. Our CBEL group has been allocated 17’ by 11’of space to be utilized for the play space and 110’ by 110’ for the distribution area. All light fixtures and additional electrical usages are limited to one outlet currently hung on the roof. Additionally, the remodelled design of the play space must hide the exposed ventilation without blocking access to the area. When it comes to negotiable constraints, Richmond Food Bank is flexible with the budget of materials needed to beautify the play area. This may include the purchasing of better lighting, paint, drywall, or other cosmetic details. The distribution tables may be moved if necessary, along with the shelving behind the tables.

Possible Solutions

When food is distributed, every individual receives fresh fruit and vegetables which are placed into their plastic bag first. The following heavier items such as canned goods tend to crush and damage the produce below it. To avoid this problem, our team plans to create a new system that rearranges the order in which goods are distributed.