With its expansion already complete, next up on the checklist is the renovation of the Northern Lehigh Food Bank.

Washington Township will receive bids for phase II of the project, which calls for renovations to the structure, located at 7884 Center Street, Emerald.Bids are due by 3 p.m. May 3, and will be publicly opened and read aloud at a workshop meeting of the township's board of supervisors at 3:15 p.m.Township secretary/treasurer JoAnn Ahner said the second phase of the project will be funded through $85,000 in Community Development Block Grant funds the township received."This project is for the renovation of the existing food bank," Ahner said. "It will include a bathroom facility, new ceilings, new floors, and office space."Once the bids are opened, Ahner said they will be forwarded to Lehigh County for its review. The county has to award the bid, she said.An announcement as to which company will be awarded the contract is expected to come at the June meeting of the township's board of supervisors, Ahner said.Ahner said phase one of the project consisted of the expansion of the facility for which the township utilized about $77,000 in CDBG funds to complete.That work entailed the installation of a receiving door for delivery, as well as the installation of a concrete wall, wall insulation, a heating system with a heat pump, and a new electrical panel inside the building The building was also wired for a cooler and a freezer.Since the early-1990s, the food bank has operated from out of the former township municipal building, located at 7884 Center St., Emerald, as part of a 10-year lease agreement with the townshipThe food bank is under the sponsorship of the Northern Lehigh Pastoral Association, which is composed of 14 churches that help support the food bank, as well as other outside churches.It distributes baskets to needy families in Northern Lehigh and surrounding communities on the first, second and third Thursday of each month, as well as the last Saturday of each month from 9:30 a.m. to noon.