Allied People Offering Year-Round Outreach (APOYO) and CWU have announced a deal that will allow the food bank to stay in their current site on campus until Oct. 31, 2022.

A Nov. 17 press release from APOYO said both parties will be financially responsible for repairs to the building, while CWU will pay the utilities. This agreement was reached 10 months after CWU announced they would not renew APOYO’s lease, which was typically renewed on an annual basis and originally set to expire on June 30, 2020.

APOYO is located on the north side of campus near the Challenge Course and McElroy Park and offers food distribution twice a week. APOYO has been located on campus since 2001, and the press release said in their 2018-2019 funding cycle APOYO distributed 106,000 pounds of food to nearly 3,500 households.

“We are delighted that the CWU administration has been willing to collaborate with us in this time of crisis,” Philip Garrison, the founder of APOYO and Patricia Garrison, APOYO’s secretary and treasurer said. “While our primary goal has always been to feed hungry people, we remain firmly committed to sharing with Central students and faculty our experience and our ties to the ethnic minority community. We believe that bringing these groups together will benefit and enrich the lives both of our clients and the university.”

The press release thanks CWU administrators and faculty including Provost Michelle DenBeste, Daniel Beck, Hope Amason, Susan Kaspari, Gene Shoda and those “who have shared our vision and worked to make it a reality.”

APOYO has begun the search for their next facility, which will also house a multicultural community and learning center.