With hunger on the rise, the new building will enable the food bank to better meet the need for food assistance across the Greater Washington region
_________________________________________________________________________
Washington, D.C., Sept. 26, 2024 – The Capital Area Food Bank on Thursday formally unveiled a larger, modernized distribution facility in Lorton, Va., which will enable the food bank to better address the rising rates of hunger across the Greater Washington region.
The new 43,000 square-foot distribution center builds upon the presence that the food bank has had in Northern Virginia for the last 35 years. The facility is roughly 3.5 times larger than the previous building, which was torn down last year to rebuild on the same site. The added size and upgraded technology now allow CAFB to distribute more than twice the amount of food in Northern Virginia, including more fresh produce and frozen protein. The expansion also provides more space for CAFB’s partner nonprofits, and enables the food bank to offer volunteering opportunities in Northern Virginia for the first time.
The new facility is named the Bedford Falls Foundation Northern Virginia Distribution Center, in recognition of a leadership gift given to the building fund from the foundation of longtime CAFB supporter Bill Conway.
“This new, expanded facility comes at a critical time, when hunger on the rise in Northern Virginia and across our region,” said Radha Muthiah, president and CEO of the Capital Area Food Bank. “This larger distribution center will make a profound difference in ensuring that thousands of Northern Virginians can access nutritious food. We’re grateful for the support of those who made this larger distribution center possible, enabling us to serve our neighbors effectively both today and into the future.”
The Lorton facility is critical to the food bank’s work in Northern Virginia and beyond. Built in 1982 and acquired by CAFB in 1998, the original 12,000 square-foot warehouse was never retrofitted to meet the growing demand even before impacts from the COVID-19 pandemic pushed the aging warehouse to its extreme limits. Since the pandemic’s peak, the need for food assistance has remained high, and according to the food bank’s latest Hunger Report, has grown during the last year, when food insecurity rates in Northern Virginia ranged from 23 percent of the population in Arlington to 43 percent in Prince William County.
The new facility enables the food bank to better meet that elevated need in the years to come. The larger and more flexible space increases efficiency both at the new location and at CAFB’s D.C. location, as the new Virginia warehouse now has the capacity to directly receive food deliveries. Due to its enhanced cooler size, the building also allows the food bank to purchase more food from local farmers and producers. And the new distribution center allows for more opportunities to engage with members of the community due to the addition of a volunteer center and space for CAFB partner organizations to meet.
The distribution center in Lorton is one of two CAFB warehouses that support food distribution in the region, along with the 123,000-square-foot main facility in Northeast D.C.
About the Capital Area Food Bank:
The Capital Area Food Bank works to address hunger today and create brighter futures tomorrow for more than a million people across the region experiencing food insecurity. As the anchor in the area’s hunger relief infrastructure, the food bank provided nearly 61 million meals to people in need last year by supplying food to hundreds of nonprofit organizations, including Martha’s Table, SOME – So Others Might Eat, DC Central Kitchen, Food for Others, Manna, and others. It also works in partnership with organizations across the region to address hunger’s root causes by pairing food with critical services such as education, health care, and job training. To learn more, visit https://www.capitalareafoodbank.org/ or call (202.644.9864).