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Oregon Coast Community Action plans to use a $500,000 grant to help build a 10,000-square-foot food warehouse.

“We can become that much closer to building a warehouse with all the refrigeration we need,” said Rollie Lobsinger, South Coast Food Share director.

The community development block grant was awarded last week.

The South Coast Food Share warehouse will be built on what is to become an ORCCA community campus near the corner of LaClair and Thomas streets in Coos Bay. It will replace an 8,000-square-foot warehouse on Southwestern Oregon Community College property.

“It used to be an automotive training warehouse,” ORCCA Development Specialist Hallie Winchell said. “It’s not ideal. We don’t have any cold storage right now.”

Winchell said a refrigerated truck picks up fresh food from grocery stores and takes it immediately to local food pantries. In the future, the food can be stored in the  refrigerated warehouse.

“This may also allow pantries to come in,” Winchell said.

The Ford Family Foundation has already awarded $1 million for the $2 million warehouse. With the $500,000 Oregon Community Development Block Grant, ORCCA needs only $500,000 more before construction can begin.

The $500,000 grant was part of more than $2.6 million in grants awarded for nine city and county projects. The ORCCA grant specified that the warehouse will be used as an anchor for an emergency food system for the entire South Coast. A similar warehouse is being set up in Myrtle Point, and Winchell said ORCCA hopes to build a third in Curry County in the future.

“It’s what we see as part of an emergency response system,” Winchell said.

The warehouse is one of three buildings planned for the 3-acre campus. A $2.9 million, 12,000-square-foot Head Start building, housing eight classrooms, is 90 percent funded. Groundbreaking will take place in six to 12 months.

Although the warehouse’s foundation may be poured at the same time as the Headstart building’s, further construction on it won’t start for at least 18 months, Winchell said.

A third building, to come after the warehouse, is an 11,000-square-foot family resource center that will house all ORCCA programs in one location, including housing assistance, Court Appointed Special Advocates, a community garden and Head Start playground. The cost and construction dates for the resource center have not been determined yet.

“It will be a one-stop shop for our services for families,” Winchell said.