It takes a community to alleviate hunger. Our partners, volunteers, and donors make it possible. Photo by Fidelis Care 18,064 volunteers contributed 52,871 total volunteer hours - the equivalent of 25 full-time employees! More than 2,500 of those volunteers were first time visitors to the Food Bank! We hosted our volunteers at five different sites: the Regional Food Bank’s main warehouse, the Selina Drive warehouse, the Patroon Land Farm, Crossgates Mall, and the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley’s warehouse. For years, our dedicated volunteers worked in various spots throughout the Food Bank and at numerous off-site locations. In November, thanks to the support of a generous community, we unveiled our new dedicated volunteer sorting space within our Latham distribution center: a space solely for our volunteers that gives the Food Bank the flexibility to maneuver the layout as needed and accommodate larger groups. Due to capacity constraints at our satellite facility in Cornwall, 60% of the food distributed in the southern six counties of our service area is transported from our Latham headquarters. In 2021, we launched an initiative to build a new, larger distribution center in the Town of Montgomery. In 2022, we were awarded a $10.7M grant from the Community Development Block Grant CARES program administered by New York State Homes and Community Renewal for the project. The new space is expected to be completed in 2024 and will enable us to provide a greater variety of food, better access for food donors, and improved service to our partner agencies. In 2022, we received 25.9 million pounds of donated food and products from 367 donors including distribution centers, farmers, truckers, wholesalers/brokers, and Feeding America, along with hundreds of businesses and community members who came together to host food and fund drives. Monetary contributions from individuals, corporations, clubs, Food Bank fundraisers, and community events assist with our daily operations and provide valuable program support, allowing us to strengthen operations and innovate. 10 foodservice companies, manufacturers, retail stores,
12 Publizr Home