Food for life

As with many food-related companies, the North County Food Bank in Vista, Calif., has had a need to utilize its parking lot due to COVID-19 restrictions. The food bank serves between 200–300 families per day, and the operation was forced out of the building. Volunteers serve a constant line of cars from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. and need to protect themselves and the food from the elements. 

A logical answer was to use the economical pop-up canopies that craft fairs set up and take down daily. However, constant use meant the pop-ups needed to be frequently replaced. That’s when the food bank started looking for more durable, permanent options.

Shazeebo, San Marcos, Calif., came up with a design solution featuring a waterproof shade sail supported by a steel frame anchored in concrete bases. This approach avoids the need for footings, with concrete neatly contained in galvanized stock tanks. The application also has the added advantage of increased strength, because it uses a powder-coated steel frame rather than wooden masts. The unit was set up on the parking lot surface within a few hours and did not interrupt the food bank’s normal hours for distribution.

Shazeebo donated the first canopy free of charge. “The canopy worked so well that the food bank used a grant to pay for an additional canopy that tied into the original one, giving a protected area roughly 20-feet by 40-feet,” says Robin DuBroy, Shazeebo. The waterproof sail is made of Serge Ferrari 502 PVC sourced from Trivantage LLC and is fitted with standard stainless steel hardware. The masts are 8-inch-square steel tubing with brown textured powder coating.

Project data

Client: North County Food Bank, Vista, Calif.

Fabricator: Shazeebo, San Marcos, Calif.

Fabric: Serge Ferrari Soltis Proof 502 coating, spruce color, provided by Trivantage LLC