Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida cut the ribbon on its new distribution center Wednesday, which means they will be able to help thousands more people.
The new 100,000 square foot distribution center was named the Morgan & Morgan, PA Hunger Relief Center, after the law firm.
The food bank distributed more than 36 million pounds of groceries to families last year. But because the older facility was smaller, they have actually had to turn away donations.
Now they will be able to hold more donations, and help more people.
"The need has more than doubled since the start of the recession back in 1998," said Greg Higgerson with Second Harvest. "And so what that has meant for our community is that more than three quarters of a million people in Central Florida can't afford to put food enough food on on the table for themselves and their families. And these are folks who, many of them have never imagined being in need of help, and are just struggling to get by."
The new facility more than quadruples the refrigerated and freezer capacity, and also the storage space for dry goods.
Second Harvest says the increased space will mean an average of 1 million more meals provided to children each year.
The food bank also got a boost Wednesday from a number of companies and groups who "pre-loaded" the new pantry.
Publix, Long & Scott Farms, Winn-Dixie, Sam's Club and Walmart, Farmers Feeding Florida, World Food and CHEP donated over 305,000 pounds of food to the center Wednesday.
To learn how you can help Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, or get help from the food bank, go to their website.