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| Food bank, Neighborhood House better off
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| Union Tribune |
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May 19, 2007 - This week marked the final meeting of a San Diego Food Bank board composed of
representatives of both the food bank and its former partner and overseer, Neighborhood
House Association. After years of controversial partnership and performance, they have
agreed to part company.
For reaching this agreement, credit Eugene “Mitch” Mitchell. As chairman of the board since
October, he has worked tirelessly to keep the mediation on track and as amicable as the
breakup of two longtime partners can be.
Determined to make the food bank reliable, well-run and growing, Mitchell has also garnered
new board members from top San Diego firms – members who bring to the agency the
accounting and accountability it long lacked and direly needs. They bring as well an
impressive fundraising base, recently eroded by its troubled tie to Neighborhood House.
Among long-simmering issues has been the food bank warehouse, bought in 2003 with $7
million in donations specifically for that purpose and a $4 million mortgage picked up by
Neighborhood House. The food bank will rent the warehouse, starting at $1 per year and
rising enough to pay off what's owed on the mortgage. The two agencies will then address the
building's future, based on an equity-sharing agreement now in negotiation.
Also as part of what Mitchell calls “a clean break with everything that's been a problem in the
past,” the food bank will seek a national partner other than America's Second Harvest, a
decision that the agency should understand.
After a two-year storm, both the food bank and Neighborhood House can appreciate the calm
– and the opportunity to intensify their services to this community. This community, in turn,
can appreciate that these two agencies essential to its well-being remain willing and able to
serve. |
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