February 2022 marks the Golden Harvest Food Bank’s 40th anniversary, and big plans are in store for the coming year including a couple of building projects, according to its executive director.
On Monday, the city of Augusta in partnership with the food bank announced a $3.7 million Department of Community Affairs grant to help fund what Amy Breitmann, the food bank’s executive director, calls phase two of a project at the organization’s Commerce Drive location.
The building known as the Faith Food Factory is a sorting center, according to Breitmann,
“It was built in 1965, and it has 17,000 square feet,” she said.
It will be demolished to make way for a 30,000 square foot building, where fresh produce will be sorted. It will serve as a Community Impact Hub where members of the food bank’s partner agencies will be able to come to pick up produce and other food.
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Breitmann said the organization has never had enough space to hold any type of training events for its partner agency personnel. The new building will allow for that.
Additional funds will be needed to complete the project, according to Breitmann.
“We will have to raise 25% of the project,” she said.
The grant comes through the March 2020 CARES Act, which provided funding to the Department of Housing and Urban Development to “prevent, prepare for or respond to the coronavirus pandemic among communities of persons earning low and moderate-income. The Georgia Food Bank Association requested that portions of the grant be distributed among the eight Georgia Food Banks it serves, including Golden Harvest,” according to a news release from the city of Augusta.
The Faith Food Factory is the second phase of construction at the food bank. The first phase will include upgrades to its administrative offices and warehouse.
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The $3.7 million grant comes about a year after the food bank announced its largest gift by a single donor. MacKenzie Scott, author and philanthropist, announced a $9 million donation to the agency.
The former wife of Amazon founder Jeff Bezos signed the Giving Pledge in 2019 and has donated significant amounts to 384 charities across the nation, according to a December 2020 news release from the food bank.
What Breitmann refers to as “phase one” of the project includes an expansion of its warehouse and office building to include a two-story lobby with additional office space and a catwalk on the upper level to provide guests a glimpse into the facility and the work done there.
The ultimate goal of all the upgrades is to impact hunger in the 25 Georgia and South Carolina counties it serves.
Breitmann said there’s an 8 million meal gap between the number of meals needed and the number of meals served in the 25 counties. About one in seven people have what is termed as “food insecurity,” meaning they have difficulty in obtaining food. Many of those at risk of hunger are children and senior citizens.
While she doesn’t have a timeline of when construction will begin on either project, she anticipates both projects beginning in 2022.
Charmain Z. Brackett is the Features Editor for The Augusta Press. Reach her at charmain@theaugustapress.com
