Second Harvest Food Bank announces plans to purchase land and expand new distribution center

NASHVILLE, Tenn. (WTVF) — Second Harvest Food Bank of Middle Tennessee has announced plans to purchase 23.6 acres of land off of Donelson Pike for a new, bigger distribution center.

The new center is expected to double its capacity at the current distribution center off of Great Circle Rd.

The new location is expected to be more than 200,000 square feet. Second Harvest bout the land for about $7 million and will close on the sale at the end of the month.

President and CEO of Second Harvest Middle Tennessee, Nancy Keil, said currently, the food bank is busting at the seams, saving about 48 million pounds of food and providing more than 41 million meals for those facing food insecurity in the area.

"We do not have enough space to store all the food that we have and we know we need more food, so we need much more capacity," said Keil. "We are a logistics and food organization, and if we don't have that capacity, there are a lot of people in our communities, and we have 46 of them, that need nourishment and need food from us, and we need to be able to provide that."

Keil said the new facility will help the food bank improve operations and be more efficient with more space.

The food bank is working on a feasibility study and will begin working with developers on the design of the building. Keil said she hopes the food bank can also use the extra space to partner with more local programs.

You can help Second Harvest continue to feed families and prepare for the expansion by donating.

Do you have more information about this story? You can email us at newsroom@newschannel5.com

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Remembering Eudora Boxley, a trailblazing TV cook from WLAC's early days

I LOVE Forrest's stories on the history of NewsChannel 5 as we celebrate our 70th anniversary. Here's a story I wasn't familiar with until recently. Eudora Boxley had a live cooking show in the early days of the station. She may have been the first black on air at NewsChannel 5 and perhaps, one of the first African Americans to have a TV cooking show anywhere in the country. It wasn't until her grandson reached out to me that I even heard of Ms. Boxley. Thankfully, I was able to connect him with Forest to learn more about this great nugget in NewsChannel 5 history.

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