The Greater Berks Food Bank will launch a $3 million capital campaign to afford its new distribution center in Reading, Berks County, its executive director, Peg Bianca, said Monday morning at a press conference in Pottsville.
It's hoping to raise $2.5 million in donations in Berks County, where it serves more than 21,000 low-income people a month, and $500,000 in Schuylkill County, where it serves more than 7,000, Bianca said at the event, held at M&T Bank, 1 S. Centre St.
"It's a critical element to our community," Robert S. Carl Jr., executive director of the Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce, said of the food bank. He was one of the 12 people in attendance.
Established in 1983, the Greater Berks Food Bank collects, stores and distributes food to more than 280 charitable agencies - including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, after school programs and senior housing facilities - in Berks, Schuylkill and western Montgomery counties, according to its website at www.berksfoodbank.org.
In 1988, Feeding America, the nationwide nonprofit network of more than 200 food banks, made Schuylkill County part of the Greater Berks Food Bank's service area, Bianca said.
"We are held responsible to distribute food for the hungry in Schuylkill. So it's best if we can partner together to do that and make it a real solid program," Bianca said.
It has 16 full-time employees and distributes six million pounds of food every year from its warehouse in Berks County to 24 agencies in Schuylkill County, including Schuylkill Community Action in Pottsville, which supplies 17 food pantries in Schuylkill County, according to statistics the food bank provided.
The Greater Berks Food Bank receives government funding and donations from numerous corporations. The top five food donors in Schuylkill County are Wal-Mart Distribution Center No. 7030, Hillshire Brands Distribution Center, Wegman's Retail Service Center, Gordon Food Service Distribution Center and Big Lots Distribution Center, according to Bianca.
The last time the food bank held a capital campaign was in 1995, and that was to raise $550,000 to construct its current headquarters, a 20,000-square-foot facility at 1011 Tuckerton Court, Muhlenberg Township, Berks County, Bianca said.
The new distribution center, a one-story 48,250-square-foot pole building, is being built at 117 Morgan Drive, Sinking Spring, Bianca said.
While the food bank is aiming to raise $3 million, Bianca said the total project cost is closer to $4.2 million.
The Greater Berks Food Bank took a loan to build the new warehouse, but Bianca would not offer details about it.
"That's not public," she said.
The capital campaign begins in April and will end in October.
"We hope to move into our new facility in September," Bianca said.
Carl wasn't certain at first if the capital campaign was to strengthen food bank services in Schuylkill County, or to help the food bank pay for its new warehouse.
"Is the campaign critical to move into the new building?" Carl asked.
"The campaign will be critical to the payment of the loans we've taken for the new building. I'm not going to be able to expand if I don't have a very successful capital campaign. I'm going to be cutting back staff and that's not what we need to do here," Bianca said.
"I think we all understand. I'm not trying to press you. I just think that when you run a $3 million capital campaign and you want a half million of it to come from Schuylkill County, these are the kind of questions you're going to be asked," Carl said.
"I think the whole project is $4.2 million," Bianca said.
"I completely understand the cost of warehousing. It wasn't clear if the campaign was programmatic or for the building," Carl said.
"By the time we put in security systems, the telephone system and the racking inside the warehouse, it will take it to $4.2 million," Bianca said.
When the food bank moves out of its Muhlenberg Township facility, it will put that building on the market, Bianca said.
During most of the one-hour presentation Monday, Bianca and members of her staff offered local officials an introduction on the services the food bank provides to people in Schuylkill County.
"We've been working in Schuylkill County for a couple decades now, but it's fair to say we've operated too much under the radar here. But we've really, really extended our services and our programs up in Schuylkill County in the last few years," Doug Long, the food bank's marketing and development manager, said.
The food bank representatives screened a five-minute video on the food bank's services. It featured an on-camera interview with Frances Gonzalez, a senior citizen from Mahanoy City.
"In my early 60s, I started getting arthritis, so I retired when I could, on Social Security. After you pay for medicine and this and that, it's really hard. And it's a blessing the food that you people bring us. Every month I wait for it, because I know then I feel secure for that month. I don't have to worry I can't pay a medical bill because I need milk. I can make balanced meals. I don't have to eat a box of crackers. I know a lot of old people who have done that. It's nutritious. Low fat. Low salt. I can't tell you how thankful we are for the Greater Berks Food Bank. I don't know what we would do without it," Gonzalez said on the video.
"I think the message we want to make sure that you leave with this morning is we're already up here in Schuylkill County. We've been providing services to Schuylkill County since 1988. We're doing a much better job of it now than we did in 1988. We are up here every day with our trucks, either picking up donations that will be redistributed up here or bringing up orders and deliveries," Bianca said.
The food bank is considering the possibility of changing its name, she said.
"We're thinking of changing our name to 'The Greater Berks/Schuylkill Food Bank,' since we are up here all the time," she said.