Although the Cambridge Food Bank still has four years remaining on its lease, increased demand is pushing them to search for a larger space and consider relocating sooner than anticipated.
The existing food bank location is 16,000 square feet and is equipped to serve a up to 800 people each month.
“But now we’re serving more than 2,000 families a month, and it’s become quite difficult to manage,” said Cambridge Food Bank CEO Dianne McLeod.
“That’s why we’re not waiting until our lease ends, because we’re really, really desperate to find a new location just because of the lack of space in this building.”
The food bank operates in a single long, narrow hallway that makes it difficult for staff and volunteers to manoeuvre carts loaded with food a dozen times a day.
McLeod said they can’t use powered equipment in the space.
“It’s very hard on our team’s backs because it’s so small in here,” she said. “We distribute over a million pounds of food and all of that is hand lifted.”
Due to the rising demand, the food bank has resorted to storing some food off-site and in the office space on the second floor.