Endowment to Fund Major Gleaners Expansion
John Elliott
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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowGleaners Food Bank of Indiana Inc. has received funding that will help with a major expansion project of the refrigerated storage capacity at its Indianapolis facility. Gleaners says the more than $1.3 million grant from Indianapolis-based Lilly Endowment Inc. will add space to store and distribute perishable foods, which will ultimately help reduce food waste. The project will total about $3.2 million and also includes the relocation of the food bank’s sorting areas as well as the installation of a second generator.
In an interview with Inside INdiana Business, Gleaners President and Chief Executive Officer John Elliot said the project will add about 40,000 square feet of capacity for more dairy, protein and meats, in addition to the produce infrastructure it has built out.
The food bank, which is the state’s largest hunger-relief organization serving 21 counties, says it is distributing more fresh fruits and vegetables than ever before: nearly half of all the food it distributed in 2019 was fruits and vegetables, an increase of 90% in only two years.
“When we moved into our warehouse in 2010, the 30,000 square feet of temperature-controlled storage space seemed more than sufficient,” said Elliot.
Prior to the 2017 launch of the regional produce co-operative, known as Fresh Connect Central, Gleaners was not receiving any fresh produce direct from farmers.
Elliot says the COVID-19 pandemic and disruptions in the supply chain have overwhelmed the food bank’s current cooler capacity. The food bank turned to costly off-site storage and even rented cold storage semi-trailers to store fresh produce, dairy and meat. Due to limited storage space, many trucks had to be turned away, each representing about 33,000 meals.
Gleaners says it is planning to begin work on a U.S. Department of Agriculture Clean Room, which will allow it to sort bulk meat into family-sized packaging, following completion of the cooler expansion. The food bank says additional freezer space is also a high priority and will likely be its next major capital investment.
Elliot explains how the food bank’s cooler expansion will help prevent food waste.