Help feed the valley on April 1 with a healthy 5K and fun run

With Feeding the Valley in Columbus getting its new food distribution center up and running, the nonprofit organization is holding a benefit called the Outrun Hunger 5K on April 1.

The event takes place at 8 a.m. that day, with free T-shirts going to all participants. A fun run starts at 9 a.m. Those registering by March 31 pay $30 for the 5K, with the fee rising to $35 the day of the race. The fun run is $15. Packet pickup and registration starts at 7 a.m. April 1.

(Feeding the Valley in home stretch for opening new center, helping more people)

The overall male and female winners, as well as masters male and masters female winners, receive finisher’s cups. Medals will be awarded to the top three places for males and females in five-year increment age groups from 10 and under through 65 and up.

The new Feeding the Valley distribution center is located at 6744 Flat Rock Road in the Midland area of Columbus. The race is expected to begin at the new facility’s entrance, with most of the race taking place on the Fall Line Trace off Flat Rock Road.

Feeding the Valley serves about 40,000 people in a 14-county area in west-central Georgia, as well as in Russell County in Alabama. Aside from food distribution, it also operates a Kids Café hot meal program.

The food bank supplies more than 200 partner agencies in the region, which encompasses a population of about 430,000. The estimated total number of people considered “chronically hungry” in the coverage area is more than 80,000.

While the new distribution center is only about 8,000 square feet larger than the old one off of Gateway Road, it will have capacity to deliver double the overall goods to the needy than it has previously because of higher 30-foot ceilings that can handle even more pallets of items. The freezer and refrigerator space will be four times that of the current facility.

Feeding the Valley distributed just under 8 million pounds of food in its last fiscal year that ended in June, which was an all-time record. That number is expected to reach 10 million pounds within five years at the new location, serving more than 55,000 people.

This story was originally published March 22, 2017 at 2:43 PM with the headline "Help feed the valley on April 1 with a healthy 5K and fun run."