JACKSONVILLE, Fla. – One in 8 adults and 1 in 5 kids in our viewing area are experiencing some level of food insecurity. That is more than 272,000 people, according to Feeding Northeast Florida.
To help address that need, the organization opened the region’s largest food bank Thursday morning.
RELATED: ‘We want to be here to serve’: Feeding Northeast Florida expanding to bigger facility
The new building on Old Kings Road has the capacity to serve 94,000 meals every day, allowing the food bank to feed thousands more people.
The new campus sits where the former Kinco Windows factory used to be.
According to Feeding Northeast Florida, the new facility is 110,000 square feet and will store significantly more refrigerated and frozen food.
The food bank says that will help reduce food shortages and ensure a steady supply of food.
It will also enable the food bank to support critical programs like mobile pantries, corner markets and food drives.
Training sessions for volunteers and any of the 325 groups it works with can be held on the new campus.
CEO Susan King said streamlining operations in one central location creates better efficiency.
“We are moving food from where it exists to where it needs to go. Having a central location is efficient. We also have a branch location in Gainesville,” King said. “To cover those 12 counties, especially the rural counties south of us, it is really helpful. That logistically is as efficient as possible.”
Feeding Northeast Florida added four additional counties within the last year and now feeds Duval, Clay, Nassau, St. Johns, Flagler, Baker, Bradford, Putnam, Alachua, Gilchrist, Levy and Union counties.
Feeding Northeast Florida served more than 34.6 million meals in 2023.
Another significant change that comes with the new facility is the number of people who are now able to work in the same room during a single shift.
Feeding Northeast Florida says around 200 volunteers can work at one time compared to just 25 at the old warehouse.
Shamia Taylor helps manage those volunteers and said the new workflow inside the new building will benefit them.
“It will definitely help communication and efficiency,” Taylor said. “I don’t think there is an end result. I think it’s going to be an ongoing thing. The more that we can help the progress that we’ll make, the more people that we will feed every day.”
Michael Crandall volunteers once a week at the food bank and has been doing so for the last five years, giving back because he remembers how he grew up.
“I grew up with very humble means. My mom raised five of us by herself. I grew up during my childhood where if there was a thing like Feeding Northeast Florida back in my day, it would’ve been a Godsend to my mother,” Crandall said.