Food Bank of Delaware receives $1.5 million from Longwood Foundation

The Food Bank of Delaware recently announced that the Longwood Foundation has made a $1.5 million gift toward its Creating a Bold Future capital campaign.

To better serve the community, the Food Bank acquired an 80,000-square-foot facility in July 2016 at 222 Lake Drive in Newark. This new building will enable the organization to maximize operational efficiency, while increasing capacity to meet the needs of people experiencing food insecurity.

Relocating will provide the Food Bank with the opportunity to operate more efficiently, grow foods on a 3.5-acre farm, train more people, feed more people, increase educational/outreach workspace, and plan for the future.

The Longwood Foundation's gift will help support the project's $10 million construction budget. To date, the organization has raised close to $9 million, and $4.5 million was used to purchase the facility. Over the past year, the Food Bank of Delaware has spent time designing the building to best meet the needs of the community. An extensive value engineering process also took place to help drive down project costs. Construction on the farm began in November 2017, and interior construction is to begin in 2018.

"We are so grateful for the Longwood Foundation's support of this critical project," said Food Bank of Delaware President and CEO Patricia Beebe. "This gift is significant to all of Delaware, as it will allow us to do more to meet not only the nutritional needs of food-insecure Delawareans, but also provide workforce development training opportunities so adults can secure good-paying jobs so they no longer need our services. The site at 222 Lake Drive will truly be a destination where we can educate the community of the issues of poverty and hunger."

To learn more about the Food Bank of Delaware's Creating a Bold Future capital campaign and to see construction progress photos, go to www.aboldfutureforfbd.org.