GAINESVILLE - Supporters and officials with the Georgia Mountains Food Bank broke ground for their new 20,000 square foot distribution center Monday morning in the Calvary Industrial Park south of Gainesville.
The Gainesville/Hall County based food bank is affiliated with the Atlanta Community Food Bank. It collects surplus food and groceries for distribution to partner nonprofit agencies in a five county Northeast Georgia region including Hall, Forsyth, Dawson, Lumpkin and Union counties.
Atlanta Food Bank founder and CEO Bill Bolling said that distribution is especially important now, with so many families seeking hunger relief for the first time because of the current economy.
"A food bank gathers up the people, the energy, the food, the companies, the churches and really brings a community around one focus," Bolling said. "That focus is feeding hungry people. We know there is enough food but often it is not in the right homes or the right mouths."
Bolling said he has the support of local retailers, wholesalers and manufacturers in the area to help the growing number of people in need. The food bank will centralize food acquisition and then get the food out to where the people are. It is set up to provide direct assistance to families and individuals in need of food assistance due to job loss or low income.
The new center is named for financial donor Walter Boomershine and his family. Boomershine said the facility is not really a 'bank'. It is set up get food to people in need.
"We don't take food in and keep it," Boomershine said. "It's not a bank, that's a bit of a misnomer. We're a logistics center. We take the food in from the sources where we can get it and distribute it as soon as possible."
The Georgia Mountain Food Bank Boomershine Family Logistic Center, with expected completion in six months, would be the eighth in Georgia.
Thursday
October 17th, 2024
1:38PM
