The Community Food Bank of Southern Arizona has completed a yearlong renovation project at its facility.
The project, which cost about $4 million and was paid for through private donations, included expanding the cool- and frozen-food storage areas, made improvements to the parking lot and traffic flow and created dedicated space for volunteer work and training.
This was the first major renovation of the building, 3003 S. Country Club Road, which has housed the food bank for more than 25 years. The building was previously a furniture warehouse.
“We are so grateful to the community and donors large and small who allowed us to take this step forward,” said CEO Michael McDonald. “We were able to make so many improvements, from providing a temperature-controlled environment for the millions of pounds of produce coming into our building to making our lobby and volunteer space a more welcoming and hospitable environment.”
The food bank announced the project last year, just before the pandemic started. Plans were put on hold with the emergency food demand brought on by the pandemic.
When the food bank moved its drive-thru food distribution to the Kino Sports Complex last May, work crews were able to begin working on the renovations to the building and outside space.
The drive-thru distributions moved back to the facility in January, a change that was made possible because of the renovated parking lot and improved traffic flow, officials said.
