Connecticut Food Bank to Open Distribution Center in Bridgeport

The Connecticut Food Bank will open a new distribution center in Bridgeport on Mountain Grove Street in late spring. The new facility will replace the Food Bank’s existing Fairfield County location in the town of Fairfield and will offer increased fresh food storage capacity, more efficient docking operations and more accessible space for community and volunteer engagement said Connecticut Food Bank CEO, Bernie Beaudreau. “We are excited about this move,” Beaudreau said. “We continue to seek ways to meet growing need in our communities and to increase access to our member programs providing critically needed food to nearly 148,000 people in our six-county service area each month.”

Beaudreau said that move from Fairfield brings the Food Bank distribution hub closer to the more than 100 community-based programs located in Bridgeport. “Fairfield County is home to more than a third of the people the Connecticut Food Bank serves,” Beaudreau said. “In the past seven months, we have distributed 4.1 million meals to neighbors in need in the county. More than 94,000 of our Fairfield County neighbors struggle with hunger.”

Beaudreau said an average of more than 50,000 individuals in Fairfield County are served each month by 232 partner programs, including food pantries, soup kitchens, shelters, and others the Connecticut Food Bank supplies with food. According to Beaudreau, half of the people served in the area live in the City of Bridgeport. “Our new building here will be similar in size to our Fairfield location, but more efficient and more accessible,” Beaudreau said. “It is located on a single level, as opposed to our current, two-story location, offering better use of the space. We’re adding a new, 1,200 square-foot cooler and freezer that increases our ability to store fresh produce and frozen meats for distribution. And more loading dock space will allow for increased speed in moving foods into and out of the distribution center.”

Another benefit of the facility, Beaudreau said, will be the inclusion of meeting space that will offer member programs and community groups a location to convene outside of their own buildings. “Many of our member programs could benefit from meeting space not always available to them in their own facilities. We hope to gather programs more frequently and foster increased information sharing and collaboration.” The building will offer more space for volunteers who currently assist with food packaging for the Connecticut Food Bank Kids’ BackPack program, which serves more than 3,300 children each week in 111 schools across its service area. “We hope to increase opportunities for the public to get involved with us here to help their neighbors in Fairfield County. The Connecticut Food Bank plans a late spring move after renovations to the site are complete. “We look forward to the move and to welcoming people at a grand opening in the near future,” Beaudreau said.

About the Connecticut Food Bank: The Connecticut Food Bank is committed to alleviating hunger in Connecticut by providing food resources, raising awareness of the challenges of hunger and advocating for people who need help meeting basic needs. The Connecticut Food Bank partners with the food industry, food growers, donors and volunteers to distribute nutritious food to people in need, which last year provided more than 21 million meals. We distribute that food through a network of community-based programs to six Connecticut counties - Fairfield, Litchfield, Middlesex, New Haven, New London and Windham counties – where more than 300,000 people struggle with hunger. Visit us on the web at www.ctfoodbank.org, like us on Facebook and follow @CTFoodBank on Twitter and Instagram.