Bastrop County is on its way to getting a $7.5 million upgraded food pantry after the Bastrop County Emergency Food Pantry team broke ground on a new facility, which officials hope to open by Christmas.

The gist

The BCEFP team held a ribbon-cutting ceremony on Valentine’s Day for a 9,200-square-foot facility at 1201 Pine St. that will double the pantry’s capacity for food storage from 500,000 pounds to 1 million pounds to meet the county's growing need.What's happening

Director of Communications Kelly Manfredini said additional funding during COVID-19 allowed BCEFP officials to begin planning for the expansion at 1201 Pine St., Bastrop.

The current pantry, at nearby 806 Fayette St., will be renovated into a nutrition and education center.

The new facility will include a computer lab, job readiness services, budgeting classes, senior activities, shared programming space with other nonprofits that can assist those in need, and more.

The plan

The food distribution process will also change.

Right now, recipients select items from a list, and a volunteer packs a box for them. With the new system, they can browse and choose their items, similar to grocery shopping, Manfredini said.

“It is so important for our neighbors,” Executive Director Tresha Silva said during the ceremony. “This grocery store model will allow our neighbors so that, when they come in for services, they will be able to take a basket, go to the back, and select their produce, select their proteins, select their canned goods, select their grains, select their beverages—and it will just mean to the world to each and everyone that we serve.”



The cost

To fund the new facility, BCEFP officials started the Capital Campaign, with challenge grants from the Mabee Foundation, where the BCEFP raises part of the goal, and the foundation matches or exceeds that amount.

Silva said the team is at 96% of the $7.5 million goal.

“We have to raise an additional $400,000 by July of 2025, and the Mabee Foundation will give us a check for $650,000,” Silva said.

Lend a hand

Those who would like to help can do so through the BCEFP website, by mailing a check to P.O. Box 953 Bastrop, TX 78602, or by dropping it off at the current center at 806 Fayette St. in Bastrop.

Other ways to help include in-kind donations and legacy gifts.