The Food Bank of Delaware cut the ribbon on its newly-expanded Milford branch on Friday.
The $2.6 million expansion includes the new Highmark Blue Cross Blue Shield Delaware Culinary Kitchen, DuPont Volunteer Room and Harry and Jeannette Weinberg Culinary Classroom.
The expansion doubles the size of the existing 8,000-square-foot warehouse on Mattlind Way. The project was designed by Delaware Architects, and managed by Richard Y. Johnson & Son.
The expansion allows the Food Bank of Delaware to increase hunger-relief hrough the creation of a new volunteer room. The expansion will bring the food bank’s culinary program to Milford and allow the preparation of meals for the Children’s Nutrition program.
“We are so happy to welcome everyone here today, a day, that at times, we thought would never come,” said Food Bank President Patricia Beebe. “We have this beautiful new facility, and it’s already being used. On September 9 we welcomed 14 members of the inaugural (culinary) class here at the Milford Branch. And best of all, I’m happy to report that the project is paid for in its entirety. Thanks to the generosity of our community, we didn’t borrow a penny for this project.”
Beebe, was joined at the podium by Rita Landgraf, Delaware’s Secretary of Health and Social Services, Ellen Vollinger, legal director for the Food Research and Action Center, Senator Colin Bonini and other community and government leaders.
“Nutritious food is a basic health requirement – a community that is hungry cannot be healthy,” said Tim Constantine, Highmark Delaware’s president. “Similarly, individuals need to have access to jobs to attain general well-being. Highmark Delaware is pleased to support this project, which addresses hunger from two directions – providing food for immediate relief, and providing job training to help people build a better future.” The expanded facility now allows the food bank to accommodate larger volunteer groups during both day and evening hours.
