Feeding the Valley distributes record amount of food as work on new facility ramps up

Fresh off a fiscal year in which Feeding the Valley Food Bank distributed a record amount of food to the needy, construction on a $3.5 million state-of-the-art distribution center in north Columbus is about to pick up speed.

“Construction of the new facility is about to begin within the next couple of weeks. The permits are signed. The contracts are signed. Materials are being ordered and equipment being brought on site,” said Frank Sheppard, president and chief executive officer of Feeding the Valley. “The construction is expected to take until about February 2017, at which time we look forward to moving into that new facility and expanding our operations further.”

The food bank serves about 40,000 people in a 14-county area in west-central Georgia and Russell County in Alabama. That’s less than half of the 87,000 people that are considered “chronically hungry” in an area with a population of about 430,000.

The food bank acts as a conduit of sorts, taking in dry and perishable food from grocery stores, schools, businesses, church groups and other sources, which include food drives. Its distribution effort through more than 200 partner agencies includes hot-food programs such as Kids Café.

“We just finished our fiscal year at the end of June,” Sheppard said Monday. “We distributed an all-time record of 7,930,000 pounds for the year. The month of June was an all-time record at 780,000 pounds for an individual month. That’s a 10 percent growth over the previous year. So we continue to accelerate and grow our business and to serve more people.”

Feeding the Valley’s new facility is being built on 5.5 acres at 6938 Jamesson Way in the Midland area of Columbus, a couple of miles from its longtime center at 5928 Coca-Cola Blvd. Ground was broken in early April. The location is prime, with it adjacent to the intersection of U.S. Highway 80 (J.R. Allen Parkway) and U.S. Highway 27 (Manchester Expressway).

Aside from additional dry and cold storage space, the new distribution center will have 30-foot ceilings, four receiving docks, a 3,000-square-foot commercial-grade kitchen and 4,000 square feet of office and training space. The organization employs more than two dozen people full and part time. It also relies heavily on volunteers to help with its mission, with the food bank accumulating more than 18,000 volunteer hours in 2015.

The $3.5 million distribution center project is being paid for through a $4.7 million capital campaign dubbed, “Nourishing Hope Together,” with about $3.9 million of that already raised, Sheppard said. The balance should be in hand within the next year, he said.

The project’s completion in February, which will allow the center to be relocated from the old facility to the new one, is the ideal time for the food bank because it is a slower time of the year, he said. Conversely, November and December, amid the bustling holiday season, is one of its busiest periods as food drives crank up and area agencies require even more food than normal to prepare holiday meals and distribute groceries to area residents.

“It’s just a real furious period right up to the week of Christmas,” Sheppard said.

The long-term goal of the Feeding the Valley is to increase distribution to about 10 million pounds within five years, then boost that to 15 million pounds within five years after that.

“That will provide enough food for all of the chronically hungry individuals in those 14 counties,” the food bank’s CEO said.

This story was originally published July 14, 2016 at 6:16 PM with the headline "Feeding the Valley distributes record amount of food as work on new facility ramps up."