“We’ve been serving Muskegon County since 2012, so it’s been almost fifteen years now, and our first twelve years, we operated out of a church basement.”
Kids’ Food Basket President and Founding CEO Bridget Clark Whitney says it’s outgrown that space restricting the ability to respond to Muskegon County’s growing needs.
“What we heard loud and clear was that the community wanted us to host a space and a place where people could gather around healthy food access.”
Clark says that 62% of the student population of Muskegon County qualifies as economically disadvantaged, and of those who qualify, just over 12% receive Sack Suppers, which are evening meals delivered directly to schools.
A new facility will help raise that number significantly. KFB purchased the former Barclay Place Event Center in the 2300 block of Barclay Ave for $1.8 million. It now seeks to raise $3.3 million to offset the purchase of the 15,000-square foot building.
“Fortunately, it is pretty much move-in ready which is great for us. It means we don’t have to spend a couple years renovating or a few million dollars renovating, but rather we’re ready to move in and really ready to make an impact sooner than later.”
A ribbon-cutting ceremony is scheduled for April 25th.