The new Kentwood facility replaces Feeding America West Michigan’s facility in Comstock Park. The larger $19.6 million headquarters is a former shipping and receiving facility. It was purchased for $6.6 million and underwent $13 million in renovations.
Programs Manager Shay Kovacs says the new building was desperately needed.
“We really were very space-constrained in our other facility. We knew that we could do more and we could meet the needs of our community better if we had more space.”
Feeding America West Michigan serves 40 of Michigan’s 82 counties, including every county in the Upper Peninsula. The organization has seen an almost 15% increase in participation at its mobile food pantry and says the demand for food has gone up 18% over the past year.
Kovacs says funding donations for the new facility were so overwhelming, the project was wholly funded, and the food bank is debt-free.
“It really comes from all different places and regular, everyday people who send in whatever they can because they know that, when there is hunger in their community, that we’re not doing everything that we can do to live in a better world.”
The new warehouse will be fully operational and open for business beginning January 13th, 2025.
