Food Bank of the Hudson Valley says its expansion has been driven by food insecurity crisis with no end in sight
The staff will shift operations from its current headquarters in Cornwall in January.
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News 12 got a look inside a 50,000-square-foot facility off Route 211 in Montgomery that will soon be a hub for the Food Bank of the Hudson Valley.
The staff will shift operations from its current headquarters in Cornwall in January.
At the new distribution center, staff will be able to hold four times more food, store fresh produce for much longer, and move it more quickly.
Not only is the Cornwall warehouse smaller, it is harder to access; some delivery trucks are unable to navigate smaller roads to get there.
Food Bank of the Hudson Valley CEO Tom Nardacci said middle-class families are turning to food pantries for assistance at increasingly high rates, and sees no end point.
He said the progress at the new facility is good news, "but yeah, it's sad. We'd rather not have a facility like this, but the reality is what it is, and we know we have a job to do ... We want to be part of the solution."
Salvation Army Captain Andrew Allen said his food pantry in Middletown is also becoming increasingly strained.
He said it is difficult to serve families of all backgrounds and dietary needs when only so much food comes in.
"Efforts like this with the food bank will, like I said, provide greater access," Allen said.
The food bank will have to increase its monthly staff from about 20 employees currently to 55 employees beginning in January to operate the center.
More community outreach will also be necessary.
Nardacci estimates the food bank will need about 15,000 volunteers to help operate it.
Orange County Executive Steve Neuhaus said he plans to round up volunteers from local businesses that have just moved to the area.
"They ask us, 'What charity or what local thing can we give back to that you think would be well received by the residents?,'" Neuhaus said. "This is a huge one that pretty much, universally, everybody can get behind."
More than half the $23 million price tag was covered by state grants.
The rest was covered through a fundraising campaign.
Nardacci said, moving forward, the food bank will seek funding from local governments, too.
Orange County is the only county government in the Hudson Valley that has helped fund the food bank.
