The North Texas Food Bank officially unveiled its new northern distribution center, named the Perot Family Campus, at a special community event in Plano Sept. 16, recognizes the Perot family’s lead gift to the food bank’s Stop Hunger Build Hope capital campaign, the organization said in a news release.
The 230,000-square-foot facility houses food distribution, volunteer operations, office space and a community learning garden, named Jan’s Garden, in memory of the Food Bank’s late CEO, Jan Pruitt.
The new campus, along with key investments in the North Texas Food Bank’s Feeding Network that includes more than 200 food pantries, provides the capacity needed to close the hunger gap by providing access to 92 million nutritious meals annually by 2025, the news release said.
The Perot Family Campus is centrally located within the food bank’s 13-county service area and will allow for more engagement with businesses, volunteers and donors.
Crossroads Community Services will occupy the organization’s prior southern distribution center on Cockrell Hill Road – named the Pollock Campus – starting in January 2019, in order to build capacity and continue serving the community in this area.
“Our job is to put nutritious food on the table for the hungry children, seniors and families that call North Texas home. Our goal is to meet the need by 2025, and we have set our sights on providing 92 million meals by this date,” said Trisha Cunningham, president and CEO of the North Texas Food Bank. “The location of our Perot Family Campus places us among a thriving and caring community that has readily embraced our mission. This is our food bank and together, we can achieve our vision of creating a hunger-free, healthy North Texas.”
The Perot Family Campus was made possible by the generous support of many individuals, corporations, foundations and businesses that contributed to the food bank’s Stop Hunger Build Hope capital campaign, the news release said.
Todd Platt with Hillwood Development Co. donated general contractor fees and GSR Andrade provided in-kind architectural services with support from OFS/Carolina who helped with the design. Tilework was partially donated by the Adleta Corp. as well as printing services from FedEx Office, a financial and in-kind donor to the food bank’s Stop Hunger Build Hope capital campaign. VARIDESK donated furniture in the office spaces including sit-to-stand desks.
“Fighting hunger is a mission that serves hundreds of thousands of North Texas residents,” said Jeff Lamb, chief operating officer at VARIDESK. “That’s why we wanted to help create a space to support the amazing work the North Texas Food Bank is doing in their new headquarters.”
Square Peg and ASI designed and produced branded office space plaques. NFI donated consulting services for the food bank’s freezer rack design as well as material handling equipment choices. The cold storage available at the Perot Family Campus stands at nearly 70,000 square feet, which is bigger than the size of a football field.
As the food bank transitioned to the new space, H-E-B and Pollock loaned trailers to transport shelf-stable food from the southern distribution center to the new Perot Family Campus.
“Every time you walk through the doors of the Perot Family Campus, you are reminded of the individuals and partners that made it possible. The outpouring support of the community is incredible and we are grateful,” said Anurag Jain, board chair of the North Texas Food Bank.
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– FWBP Staff