Friday, May 30, 1997
Food Bank expands facility
By ALYSON WARD / Abilene Reporter-News
The need for food assistance is expanding, so the Food Bank
of Abilene has expanded its facility.
A 4,500-square-foot addition to the Food Bank building, located
at 5505 N. 1st, will be dedicated at 2:30 p.m. today.
The Food Bank needs the extra space "to handle more food
and accommodate our shoppers," said Doug Eichorst, executive
director.
Eichorst said the addition was recently finished after a little
more than two months of construction.
"We got money from three foundations and three corporations
and our board of directors," Eichorst said.
The Food Bank provided almost 2 million pounds of food in the
past year, which nonprofit organizations used to feed the hungry,
Eichorst said. The organizations range from individual foster
homes to the Salvation Army and church pantries.
"If you consider a meal to be about a pound, you could
say we reached a lot of people," he said.
Eichorst said the Food Bank has expanded rapidly. Just six
years ago, he said, the organization provided 685,000 pounds of
food in a year.
He said welfare reform provides a challenge for the Food Bank,
since many people in the area are likely to lose their food stamps
and need more assistance. The extra space the addition provides
will be necessary in the coming months.
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Abilene Reporter-News / Texnews / E.W. Scripps Publications
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