Food and Friends prepares over two million meals each year for people in the D.C. region who are battling serious illnesses. The organization expects to double its impact with a $30 million addition and renovation.
The first shovels went into the ground Monday at Food and Friends’ headquarters in Northeast D.C.
The 17,000-square-foot expansion will dramatically impact how many people the organization can serve on a daily basis, the nonprofit said.
鈥淭he demand has been so high, and so we need more room. And we’re really, really excited to be kicking that off,鈥� Food and Friends CEO Carrie Stoltzfus said. 鈥淲e鈥檙e going to be able to more than double what we do.鈥�
Food and Friends currently packages roughly 7,100 meals per day and delivers throughout the D.C. region in an area approximately the size of Connecticut.
Staff described the current building as bursting at the seams, with many rooms doubling as food storage.
“Most of the expansion space will be for food production and food storage because that’s really what drives everything else that we do and why we’re all here,” Stoltzfus said.
The new building, set to be completed in May, will include a state-of-the-art kitchen. The current kitchen will be transformed into a chilled food packing room.
The expansion also adds private nutrition counseling rooms for clients who are battling diseases such as cancer, AIDS, renal failure and other illnesses.
All clients of Food and Friends are referred to the program by healthcare providers. Dietitians and chefs have developed 11 meal types tailored to specific health needs.
Rebecca Kahn, director of nutrition services at Food and Friends, said its food is medicine, leading to better health outcomes.
鈥淗ospital visits are going down as compared to before getting our services. Clients are saving money on healthcare costs,鈥� she told 麻豆官网.
Loris Adams is a volunteer and a former client who received meals from Food and Friends while she battled ovarian cancer. She鈥檚 thrilled with the expansion.
鈥淧eople like me, people like your neighbors have an opportunity to be fed and nourished 鈥� body, soul and spirit 鈥� while they’re going through really hard and difficult times,鈥� she said after the groundbreaking.
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