BUFFALO, N.Y. — Feedmore WNY is always looking for more food donations to feed the Western New York community, but now they are also in need of more space.
Public Relations Manager for Feedmore WNY Catherine Schick said, "We are renting and/or borrowing over 30 thousand feet of dry, freezer and other storage space just to continue our operations and it's extremely challenging for us to expand our programs or add more staff even though the need continues to grow'".
That is why they are building a new headquarters. It will include a larger warehouse, as well as plenty of space for food production and re-packaging. Expanding the amount of food that Feedmore is able to provide to the community.
They will also be able to triple the amount of hot meals they make each day through their home delivered meal program. Schick said, "Our commissary right now can provide up to six thousand meals a day. that we are making each day in our commissary which is incredibly impressive however, we know that the need continues to be larger than that. Our new facility will allow us to produce 20 thousand meals a day for the community,".
More space will also give them a better opportunity to expand some for their other programs such as their workforce development classes and produce production. "It will have more classroom and development spaces for our free workforce development program known as RISE and more space for us to add opportunities to grow our own produce," Schick said.
The new headquarters will be located in the geographic center of the four counties that Feedmore WNY serves, Erie, Niagara, Chautauqua and Cattaraugus county. They say that this will make their services even more efficient and give them the opportunity to widen their reach.
Feedmore WNY is still actively raising money for their new headquarters, they are still about $27 million short of their goal. However, the money and food donated through food to families is all going towards Feedmore WNY's current hunger initiatives, putting food into the hands of those who need it. Schick said, "When you donate to food to families, you are helping to support our critical programs and services that feed the community. programs like our foodbank distribution network that supports food pantries, soup kitchens shelters throughout Erie, Niagara, Cattaraugus and Chautauqua counties, programs like meals on wheels services also known as home delivered meals,".
The Food 2 Families Food Drive is Friday, December 6, 2024. You can drop off your donations at participating Tops Friendly Markets locations. Volunteers will be present to accept non-perishable food and cash contributions.
- Tops Market, 4777 Transit Road in Depew: 5 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Tops Market, 7200 Niagara Falls Blvd. in Niagara Falls: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Tops Market, 6150 South Park Ave. in Hamburg: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Tops Market, 2101 Elmwood Ave. in Buffalo: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Tops Market, 5827 S. Transit Road in Lockport: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
- Tops Market, 3980 Maple Road in Amherst: 7 a.m. – 8 p.m.
Purchase Little Brown Bags of Hope: From Nov. 10 through Dec.24, donate a Little Brown Bag of Hope at any WNY Tops Friendly Markets.