Bay Area Food Bank opens new distribution center

The Bay Area Food Bank, after nearly a year and a half of construction and waiting, has opened its new distribution 15,000 sq. ft. distribution center in Milton to better serve the community. The new 15,000 square-feet warehouse replaces a smaller leased building in Pace.

Since 2002 the food bank has been leasing a building in Pace to help meet the needs of the Panhandle. The organization broke ground on the site of the new facility in November of 2007. At the time, Branch Manager Marcus Ditty said the location in Pace was not sufficient.

“The current facility is not large enough and has limited refrigerator and freezer capacity,” said Ditty.

With no back up generator, “it is in no way disaster ready,” he said. “Since our mission is to provide disaster relief, and domestic hunger relief, it’s not compatible.”

The new facility will give the Food Bank the capability to increase annual distribution in Northwest Florida from 2 million pounds to nearly 6 million pounds. 

Paul Clements of the Bay Area Food Bank says “The growing number of Northwest Florida residents struggling with hunger, many for the first time in their lives as unemployment numbers continue to rise in our area.”

The new facility will also increase the Food Bank’s disaster response in times of emergency, when they distribute food and cleaning supplies to residents in disaster zones.  

The new facility is located at 5709 Industrial Blvd in Milton.

The Grand Opening was held on Friday at 10a.m. Approximately 200 guests attended the opening including Director of Florida Division of Disaster Services Craig Fugate, Congressman Jeff Miller; Executive Director of Bay Area Food Bank David Reaney, Director of Disaster Services for Feeding America Patrick Crawford, and representatives from 150 agencies of the Bay Area Food Bank.

Bay Area Food Bank serves 24 counties throughout the Central Gulf Coast Region, distributing more than 9 million pounds annually to approximately 550 pantries at churches and nonprofit organizations. With unemployment rates in the Pensacola region at 7.5%, the highest in more than 17 years, the Food Bank and its member agencies have seen demand increase by approximately 30 percent.