Food Bank's new distribution facility in Montgomery moves forward: What to know
MONTGOMERY - The Food Bank of the Hudson Valley raised the final steel beam on its new 40,000-square-foot distribution center Thursday morning.
That was hailed as a major construction milestone by Food Bank members and supporters at a ceremony outside the new warehouse on Route 416 in the town of Montgomery.
The 40,000-square-foot distribution center will be twice the size of the food bank's current warehouse in Cornwall-on-Hudson and enable it to increase the capacity of food it distributes to 400 food pantries and soup kitchens in Orange, Sullivan, Ulster, Dutchess, Rockland and Putnam counties.
"Sadly, the need for our services is greater than ever," said Tom Nardacci, CEO of the Regional Food Bank of Northeastern New York, of which the Orange County-based Food Bank of the Hudson Valley is a branch. "Hunger remains a silent epidemic in the Hudson Valley."
The Food Bank has been at the Cornwall-on-Hudson location since 1996, when that building was donated.
"We simply outgrew the (Cornwall-on-Hudson) location many years ago," Nardacci said.
More: How tackling food insecurity in Hudson Valley hinges on solving the 'last mile problem'
An increased need for Food Bank services in Hudson Valley
Last year, the Food Bank estimates that it provided more than 21 million pounds of food to those 400 agencies, which serve an area where about one in 10 people experience some degree of food insecurity. Nearly 180,000 people regularly seek assistance from one of those food pantries or soup kitchens.
Beneficiaries of the Food Bank and the programs it supplies also include students from the Newburgh School District. Kori Rogers, a liaison for the district, said 380 students receive backpacks with food for the weekend through the Deacon Jack Seymour Food Pantry.
The total estimated cost of the new food distribution center is $23.8 million, and a major portion of that is being funded through two grants from the state: $10.7 million awarded to the town of Montgomery through a community development block grant program administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal; and a $3.7 million award from the Empire State Development Corp., which was recommended by the Mid-Hudson Regional Economic Development Council.
The rest is being raised through a capital campaign.
"It is going really well," said John Rath, executive vice president of Lakeland Bank, who is chairing that campaign. "This is the way it should be: government on all levels coming together with the private sector."
Expanded space marks 'legacy of hope'
Those in attendance Thursday also heard from Pat Moore, director of construction for R.L. Baxter Construction, which is building the new Food Bank.
"This will indeed leave a legacy of hope for generations to come," Moore said. "Long after the last construction vehicle leaves the site, we'll continue to support the Food Bank."
And because the Food Bank will be operated in an expanded space, it will be able to store more food, and a broader range of that food, that is locally sourced and donated by farms and supermarkets.
It was Rath who offered the most optimistic observation on the prospects for the project's long-term success.
"When I started on the way here this morning, it was pouring rain, but as I was coming down Neelytown Road, I saw a rainbow, and I took a picture of it," Rath said. "God is smiling on us."
Mike Randall covers breaking news for the Times Herald-Record and the Poughkeepsie Journal. Reach him at mrandall@th-record.com or on Twitter @mikerandall845.
This article originally appeared on Times Herald-Record: Hudson Valley Food Bank building new distribution center: The latest
