The Treasure Coast Food Bank dedicated its new 132,000-square-foot regional operations center in Fort Pierce Thursday morning, bringing its work under one roof and expanding food storage and meal preparation capacity. The facility at 401 Loop Road includes a production kitchen capable of producing up to 25,000 meals a day during a disaster. It also supports fresh food programs, nutrition education, benefits assistance and workforce training.
The production kitchen more than doubled in size, growing from 7,000 to 15,000 square feet. Along with its disaster-response capacity, the kitchen prepares nutritious meals for the community. The new freezer area alone could fit one and a half of the food bank’s former facilities.
Founded in 1988, the organization is the only food bank serving Indian River, Martin, St. Lucie and Okeechobee counties. It reaches about 250,000 people each week and works with hundreds of nonprofit partners.
The center is designed to meet immediate needs and help people build stability for the future. Adults and children can take nutrition education classes on site, while seniors receive nutrition information with delivered food boxes. Three job-training programs focus on culinary, hospitality and barista skills.
Students learn skills including knife safety, food safety and making pasta from scratch. The programs offer certifications in stages, and some courses are free.
During Thursday’s dedication, 10 community members participated in a ceremonial First Box packing representing the network behind the food bank’s work. Robin Safley of Feeding Florida added fresh vegetables on behalf of the statewide hunger-relief network. Donor Dee Locke added fresh fruit, and volunteer Tatiana Rousseau added peanut butter. The food bank’s capital campaign is continuing, with donations accepted through the Feed Unite Flourish capital campaign page.