On Thursday, the Food Bank of Northeast Georgia held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to celebrate their new facility, located on Newton Bridge Road. WUGA’s Mary Ryan Howarth was there.
The Food Bank’s Director of Development, Kelly Klein, says they have been operating in the 63,000-square-foot facility - larger than a football field - for about a month so far, and the increase in space was much needed.
“We had maxed out our space, and we were turning food away. We were using every inch and our former facility to store food, including cold storage. And so we needed to grow.”(2:41-2:55)
Klein says that the food bank expects to distribute up to 20 million pounds of food from the new building. That’s a 74% increase from last year.
Going forward, Klein hopes that the new facility will allow the Food Bank to better aid Northeast Georgians get fresh food and produce. She empathizes with the tens of thousands of people in the region facing food insecurity - because she was once one of those people.
“Oftentimes, if someone finds themselves standing in a line, they have exhausted many other resources… and so I think it helps me think about the neighbor experience and also recognize that anyone, anyone could be experiencing it we don't know what's happening in people's lives.”
At the event, Food Bank CEO and President Erin Barger thanked donors, partners, and food bank staff for making the $16 million project a reality. She also thanked the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for their donation of $8.9 million, which came from federal pandemic relief funds.
“What is remarkable about this community, our team, and the board of directors who helped bring this together, and the people who are about to speak, is that it never really, fully occurred to us to not take the chance. Because without taking this chance, without moving forward, into this future where we now stand- what we’re actually saying to the 80 plus thousand humans in the 15 counties we serve- is that our fear is greater than your hunger.”
