The Bay Area Reporter - October 8, 1999
Lois Pearlman

About 150 guests sat on folding chairs in the parking lot as founders, board members, and major donors received awards for their contributions. Various portions of the 5,000 square foot building and its grounds were also officially dedicated to various individuals.

The client lobby is named in honor of founder Betsy Van Dyke, the community room for the Hafner family of Healdsburg, the fruit orchard for Freestone attorney Lloyd Tupper, the building in honor of major donor J. Russell Wherritt from Monte Rio, and the entire property dedicated to the memory of attorney Wayne Sapp.

Other donors who were mentioned at the event include Marissa Tonello, who installed the phone system free of charge and got all of the parts donated, and Safeway stores, which donated the shelving and produce cooler.

In addition to the large client lobby, and the sunny community room û a meeting space available to the entire community û the building also houses a storage room, a walk-in cooler, a loading dock, and a complex of offices for staff members. A vegetable garden and fruit orchard, planted and maintained by Doug Gosling and Rachel Gardener of the Occidental Arts and Ecology Center, surrounds the building on two sides.

Describing the new facility volunteer coordinator Stewart Scofield said it is "just like an old-fashioned country store, where people can sit down and hang out." There is even a rug and a box of toys so families can bring their children.

While the new building was the subject of the day, Food For Thought Executive Director Ron Karp acknowledged the work of the handful of volunteers who started the food bank 10 years ago in a borrowed storage space and the dining room of the Russian River Community Senior Center.

"The foundation of this building was built by a very dedicated group of people," he said.

According to Scofield one of those founders, Van Dyke, who was also the food bank's first executive director, set the tone for the unique way that the food bank operates. Every Sonoma County resident with HIV/AIDS is entitled to a bag of groceries and food supplements each week, regardless of income level and with a minimum of red tape.

"The important thing that Betsy taught me is that clients come first," Scofield said. "No appointments are necessary for clients to apply for food. They just show up and the intake person drops everything to do an interview. This helps to soothe their fear and anger and guilt over having to ask for food."

Karp added, "It is a vision of a food bank where everyone is treated like an adult. Anyone in Sonoma County with HIV/AIDS can come here, apply, and leave right away with a bag of food."

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