Food Share of Lincoln County director Nancy Mitchell will be retiring at the end of July after 30 years of leadership. Over the past few months she has worked with her successor to take over a $4 million project to move into a new food storage and distribution site. (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)

By SHAYLA ESCUDERO/Lincoln Chronicle

NEWPORT – The 12,000 square foot former dairy warehouse on the north side of town is dim and musty. One end of the building once stored hundreds of cartons of ice cream and now without heat the space has a phantom chill.

But incoming Food Share of Lincoln County executive director Shirley King sees potential.

The space would allow double the amount of fresh produce as well as more meats, milk and eggs making their way to pantries across the county and on the shelves of those facing food insecurity.

“It’s got good bones,” King said.

A 12,000 square foot former dairy warehouse on the north side of Newport could be the new Food Share of Lincoln County location by 2028 if the organization is able to raise the estimated $4 million needed for renovations. (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln Chronicle)

Before it is ready to house pallets full of fresh, frozen, boxed and canned food the warehouse needs a $4 million renovation – a laundry list that includes upgraded refrigeration, temperature controls and a new roof. It’s the largest project Food Share of Lincoln County has ever tackled and will be King’s focus as she takes up the position of executive director by the end of the month when Nancy Mitchell retires after a 30-year tenure.

Through her leadership Mitchell saw neighbors step up when the 2010 recession left their shelves bare. She’s also navigated uncertain times during the pandemic and changes to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program.

Last spring, the Trump Administration cancelled several food deliveries to the Oregon Food Bank and less food came to Lincoln County.

For the first time, Lincoln County Food Share had to purchase truckloads of supplies to make up for the gap. But there have been positive changes over the years too. Mainly, the shift from nonperishable items to healthier fresh foods.

“We rarely had produce, it was all canned and boxed goods, so we have really come a long way,” Mitchell said. “There’s been major efforts in the past 10 years to start working with farmers and large producers to procure produce.”

That’s what makes the warehouse at 107 N.W. 55th St. so attractive.

The new space is about six times the size of Food Share’s current location and is a better fit to accommodate the growing needs of the county. About 15 percent of Lincoln County’s 50,000 residents live in poverty, compared to the 11 percent national average, according to the U.S. Census. It ranks seventh of Oregon’s 36 counties for food insecurity.

The food bank distributes food to seven pantries, three meal sites and 14 supplemental agencies across the county, helping feed about 6,000 people a month and distributing 1.2 million pounds of food each year.

Recently, Food Share had to turn away crates of nectarines not because there wouldn’t be enough people who would want them but because they just didn’t have the space in their Northeast First Street location, Mitchell said.

They can currently accept about 4,000 pounds of fresh produce but with the new building, they should be able to accept about 10,000 pounds, King said.

The warehouse also has a raised loading dock that would allow food trucks to more easily bring pallets in the building. At the current location, trucks pull to the side of the street and a forklift goes back and forth to unload food.

Food Share purchased the former warehouse in 2024 with funds from the Oregon Legislature. But there are some things that need to be fixed, including the walk-in cold storage, adding an HVAC system, repairing the roof and constructing office spaces and meeting rooms.

**Shirley King, who previously worked more than 20 years at a food bank in Napa County, Calif. will be the new executive director of Food Share of Lincoln County.** (Shayla Escudero/Lincoln County)

King also hopes to make the new location prepare for a natural disaster by adding generators. Having worked at a food bank in Napa, Calif. that became really important after the area saw several devastating fires.

The project will cost an estimated $4 million and will go through phases as funding is acquired. Phase 1, which includes heating and cooling infrastructure, beam replacements and electrical infrastructure is estimated to cost $622,000.

It’s a big responsibility Mitchell is passing down, but King feels up to the task. She was the executive director of the regional food bank for 21 years in Napa, a population similar to Newport in some ways – rural with a tourism economy.

“Nancy and I are very like-minded so it’s been nice to work together before she retires,” King said.

The project isn’t the only thing King will be responsible for under her new role Aug. 1. She also hopes to expand access to food in rural parts of the county such as Otis and Toledo and would like to expand programs for seniors to receive food.

“The basic need for food isn’t going away, so we would like to expand programming, expand the amount of food we can take on and serve the community more,” she said.

Shayla Escudero is an enterprise reporter for the Lincoln Chronicle covering local governments, education, housing and social services and can be reached at [email protected]