Photo by Rendering courtesy Studio8 ArchiCampaign aims to raise $10M in 10 months for construction
On Sept. 19 the Capital Area Food Bank of Texas launched a campaign to raise funds for a new food distribution warehouse it plans to build in East Austin in 2015.
The existing 60,000-square-foot warehouse at 8201 S. Congress Ave. in Southwest Austin was built in 1997. The food bank has been working for about three years to raise $20 million for a new facility to meet growing demand in Central Texas, CAFBT President and CEO Hank Perret said.
"Basic human needs are something that we should all focus on. Most people would agree that hunger is unacceptable, and we shouldn't have hungry people in our community," he said.
About 40 percent of the population the food bank serves represents children and seniors, Perret added.
The CAFBT's 10x10 Campaign for a Hunger-Free Community aims to raise $10 million in 10 months to fund construction of a 135,000-square-foot warehouse that could distribute 60 million pounds of food annually, compared with the 29 million pounds the food bank distributed last year. The nonprofit will then look to sell its South Congress building, he said.
Three donors—H-E-B, the Moody Foundation, and Howard and Mary Yancy—pledged more than $1 million each to support the campaign, Perret said.
The new facility will be located where Ben White Boulevard intersects with Hwy. 183. The goal is to break ground in early 2015, Perret said.
More information is available atwww.cafb10x10.com.
