FORT MYERS – Harry Chapin Food Bank has lifted the first walls of its new Hunger Action Center, a 110,175-square-foot distribution center and warehouse being built in Fort Myers.

DeAngelis Diamond, the general contractor leading the project, is using tilt-wall construction in which giant concrete slabs are poured into a mold, then hoisted vertically into place using a crane. The first walls were lifted on Jan. 8 and the process is expected to continue for several weeks.

“We have far outgrown the capacity of our current infrastructure – our current building,” said Richard LeBer, president and CEO of Harry Chapin Food Bank. “We wanted to make sure the community could continue to rely on the Harry Chapin Food Bank, as it has for the last 43 years, to take care of everybody in our community so that no one in our community has to go hungry.”

Once completed later this year, the Hunger Action Center will increase the Food Bank’s food distribution capabilities from 45 million to 80 million pounds annually of dry, refrigerated and frozen food. The center's sophisticated inventory tracking system will allow staff to monitor food supplies in real time using a computerized barcode system that categorizes inventory by product type, expiration date, origin, destination and other factors. Ten truck bays will accommodate inbound and outbound deliveries.

A key feature of the Hunger Action Center will be a food pantry where neighbors experiencing hunger can shop for fresh produce and groceries, an element of hunger relief not available in the tight quarters at the current warehouse in Fort Myers. Additionally, Harry Chapin Food Bank and its agency partners will have access to community meeting space to host seminars and classes covering nutrition, health, how to access food, budgeting for groceries and other educational topics, empowering neighbors and agency partners to address the root causes of hunger. 

The Hunger Action Center is being funded primarily through private philanthropy, with the Food Bank recently announcing The Richard M. Schulze Family Foundation and Lipman Family Farms as lead donors of the nonprofit’s Feeding the Future capital campaign.