Feed Nova Scotia moving to new location
Posted Apr 27, 2018 02:00:00 PM.
This article is more than 5 years old.
Feed Nova Scotia is right now, and when it reopens on Tuesday, they'll be in a new spot.
For the past 19 years, the organization has been distributing food to 146 member food banks and meal programs from the Bedford Highway.
The organization's executive director Nick Jennery said there were a lot of logistical challenges with the old location.
“We got to the point where we were turning away some large donations,” he said. “We can not take a 53 foot trailer … there's no receiving dock here at the Bedford Highway.”
He said it started to not make sense to pour money into the 100 year old building, then a location in Burnside came on the market that was almost tailor-made for their needs.
The purchase closed in September. It will be funded by the sale of 213 Bedford Highway, operating reserves and a capital campaign.
Jennery said the new location will quadruple their capacity to handle perishable products.
“We put a real push on the last couple of years to try and increase the percentage of fresh fruits and vegetables that we ship out to those who are in need of help,” he said. “We're at that 55 per cent level right now.”
When farmers have crops they can no longer take to market, Feed Nova Scotia now has the infrastructure to get those out to their agencies, reducing waste.
The Wright Avenue operation will also be more efficient with everything under one roof.
He said the move has been a challenge but Jennery credits his team with making sure they were able to continue delivering up to 25,000 pounds of food a day while shutting down the old location and launching the new one.
Feed Nova Scotia is planning to host an open house in their new Burnside building at 67 Wright Avenue.
