Golden Harvest Bank hosted its ribbon cutting Tuesday morning for the expansion of its Augusta site at 3310 Commerce Drive.
Many dignitaries from throughout the CSRA attended to celebrate the growth of the facility, which included doubling its 15,000-square foot produce warehouse.
Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson, Augusta Commissioners Jordan Johnson, Bobby Williams, Francine Scott and Stacy Pulliam, Columbia County Commissioners Connie Melear and Doug Duncan, Georgia Sen. Harold Jones II and Georgia Rep. Karlton Howard.
Introduced by Brian Ellefson, the chairman of the food bank’s board of directors, Golden Harvest founder Mike Furman began the commemoration with an invocation.
“Before our very eyes we see the fruit of the faith of this community that has put its heart and its trust in you since 1982,” said Furman. “With a vision to make sure no one in our communities in the central Savannah River area, and then the midlands of South Carolina, goes hungry.”
The renewed distribution center, with its new sorting facility and offices, is phase 1 in a larger renovation project, part of the food bank’s overarching goal to thwart food insecurity in the CSRA by 2030.
In 2021, the board of directors decided new facilities were needed to procure and distribute the volumes of food to meet the aim of closing the “8.8 million meal gap” across the 25 counties served by Golden Harvest.
“This is way more than a building,” said Amy Breitman, Golden Harvest president and CEO, about the new structure, noting its function to support the food bank’s other facilities, both in Augusta and across the river.
“It’s an addition to our Aiken facilities, where we move through to all of our South Carolina counties, our urban farm downtown that provides organic produce that goes straight into our soup kitchen, our soup kitchen that serves our neighbors every single day,” said Breitman.
Phase 2 of the project, the Produce Rescue Center, is still under construction. This facility will replace the Faith Food Factory, currently temporarily located along Benchmark Drive, which inspects, sorts and packs non-perishable food and household items for distribution.
Both phases comprise an $10.3 million project, $8.5 million of which Golden Harvest has raised toward completion, some which, Breitman noted, was seeded through some funding received through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs.
“We’re working with the Augusta government in procuring and figuring out those funds and utilizing them to make great impact,” she said, presenting an estimate that the new facilities will generate 200% more produce within the first year.
Just before the ribbon-cutting, coordinated by the Augusta Metro Chamber of Commerce, Georgia Representative Lynn Gladney, with Howard and Jones by her side, declared Aug. 29 “Golden Harvest Bank Day” in Augusta for, among many other things, the organization’s “exceptional dedication, innovation and resolve in the pursuit of alleviating hunger and improving the well-being of countless families.”
The building’s wall are decorated with graphics, designed by downtown firm Wier/Stewart, explicating how the food bank operates, its history, and its values — including, in its front hallway, a biblical scripture from Matt 25:35.
“Really what we’re about is welcoming strangers and making sure that they have the community that they need,” Breitman said. “Which is food and sustenance to do the things that they need to do in our community.”
Skyler Q. Andrews is a staff reporter for The Augusta Press. Reach him at skyler@theaugustapress.com.
