“More Space. More Meals” campaign reaches conclusion

(Tyler, Texas) April 18, 2019 – The East Texas Food Bank revealed its new Volunteer and Nutrition Education Center facilities during a grand opening ceremony for donors and invited guests on Thursday, April 18th.  The $3 million capital campaign project, titled “More Space. More Meals.: Our Blueprint to Fight Hunger”, provides the food bank a dedicated Volunteer Center, Nutrition Education Center with a teaching kitchen, expanded cold dock loading/unloading areas and improvements to existing warehouse storage capacity.

“These improvements to our facilities will be a game changer for the East Texas Food Bank, our volunteers, the 200 partner agencies and many thousands of families that we serve every year,” said Dennis Cullinane, CEO of the East Texas Food Bank.

The “More Space. More Meals.” campaign was started in 2016 as a result of a comprehensive strategic plan to ensure those who are at risk of hunger in East Texas have access to the food they need.  It was determined that an expansion and renovation of the current facilities would be a crucial measure in reaching the food bank’s long-term strategic distribution goals.

“In spite of the dramatic growth that the East Texas Food Bank has made in providing almost 21 million meals in 2018, there is so much more work to do,” said Cullinane.  “The total East Texas meal gap is reported to be 43.1 million meals according to Feeding America’s Map The Meal Gap, and we are committed to continue to make substantial progress in narrowing that gap over the next several years.”

Today 1 in 5 East Texans, including 1 in 4 children, are at risk of hunger.  The East Texas Food Bank serves approximately 82,000 households throughout its 26-county service area.

Construction on the project began in January of 2018.  The East Texas Food Bank will host a public open house on Saturday, April 27th from 9:00am to 2:00p.m.

For more information about the EastTexas Food Bank, visit EastTexasFoodBank.org.