Officials launch campaign to pay off new digs.

Good Cheer board member Maury Hood recalled a recent chance to get a large load of food for the Good Cheer Food Bank.

“I saw this huge bin with bushels of corn for sale — a ‘honor system’ type bin of corn, eight ears for $1, put the money in the box — and was sure at the end of the day, the bin would still be nearly full,” Hood said.

“But we couldn’t get the corn because we had no place to store it,” he added.

That’s about to change. Good Cheer is buying the Bayview Masonic Temple and will turn the building into a new location for the food bank.

The Good Cheer Food Bank will grow from its current size of 700 square feet at its Langley location to more than 2,000 feet, plus office space and storage, Hood said.

After years of closely studying the community’s needs, Good Cheer identified Bayview as a prime location for the food bank.

Last year, Good Cheer bought a lot on Bayview Road as the future site for its food bank. But when opportunity came knocking, the Good Cheer board answered the call.

Owners of the temple had approached the Good Cheer board and offered the site for sale. The building — which has just below 4,000 square feet of space — will give Good Cheer ample room for storage and food bank facilities. The Masonic Temple also has enough room for expansion, a community garden and other ideas, Hood said.

Located on a bus line and with at least 25 parking spaces, the building will offer easy access and anonymity for food bank clients.

“With the purchase of the Masonic Lodge, the benefits for Good Cheer Food Bank will include accessibility, confidentiality and a greater capacity,” said Good Cheer executive director Kathy McLaughlin. “We are continually looking at ways to improve service. This is going to allow us to take a huge step forward.”

“In Langley people couldn’t find parking. Others weren’t comfortable going through the store to the food bank. This is the perfect solution,” she said. “The vital piece is privacy.”

And when the food bank moves out of the Langley location, it also means more space for the retail operation at the thrift store.

“We’ll be freeing up lots of space by taking drop-off and the food bank out of Langley,” McLaughlin said.

Expanding the retail space will increase sales, and that’s important because all proceeds go towards the food bank. The food bank’s budget is built on Good Cheer’s retail operations; 43 percent of the budget come from sales at the thrift stores in Clinton and Langley.

Good Cheer expects to close the deal on Dec. 5.

Pending the closing, the other Bayview property next to Bayview School is under contract with a potential buyer.

While Good Cheer will make a little money off the sale of its Bayview lot because the value of the land has increased, the nonprofit will need to raise additional funds to pay for the purchase, renovation and operation of the new food bank site, as well as expansion of the Langley retail space.

The project will cost a total of $1.4 million, and the Good Cheer board has raised $30,000 to kick off the campaign.

Before the Good Cheer team and its dedicated volunteers can move into their new venue, some hard work is ahead. That includes remodeling and adding a room for a refrigerator and a freezer room.

However, Good Cheer is proud to recycle an old building.

“With a minimum of construction, we’ll get the maximum of utilization,” Hood said.

Hood said Good Cheer hopes to obtain a building permit soon after the closing date for the property purchase in December.

Engineering and design work has been donated. Professional design input was given by L.A. Schellenberger of L.A.S. Designs. Robert Lowey, a structural engineer, will provide expertise on the necessary modifications of the building, Hood said.

One of the most exciting innovations is a planned community garden. On the 4.15 acres property, the Good Cheer team wants to plant gardens were community members can plant fruit and vegetables for the hungry people on South Whidbey.

“We have so many plans for this site,” McLaughlin said.

“We are all very excited this is a project that actually began four years ago,” she added. “Countless hours have been dedicated to the cause all in the attempts to better serve the hungry in our community.”