CORPUS CHRISTI, Texas — The Coastal Bend Food Bank is expanding to a new facility thanks to one donor they never expected.
The 108,000 square-foot warehouse is partially funded by billionaire and Amazon co-founder MacKenzie Scott. Food bank CEO Bea Hanson said it caught her completely by surprise.
“Originally, I thought it was a scam," Hanson said. "We were really lucky to receive a sizeable donation from Mackenzie Scott—$9 million—and that was the lead gift that we needed to get us going.”
But Scott told Hanson there was one condition do her donation.
“I couldn’t tell anybody until she made the announcement," Hanson said. "I had to sit on this news for months, a couple of months. You will see me down the hallways, smiling and nobody knew why.”
The $32 million facility received funding from community members and partners. H-E-B donated $1 million and Danny Flores, a representative for the company, said they are happy to help the food bank how they can.
“Whether it’s in donations, in dollars or its from our stores in food," Flores said, "we know that food product will be able to get to the tables of those who need a little bit of a help during these tough times.”
60% of the food bank’s products are currently stored outside. The new warehouse will expand from their current 1,600 square-foot facility and allow them to serve the community better. Flores said moving the product inside will not change the way the food bank does things, but will improve output.
“That’s going to mean a lot but," Flores said. "You know, the food really shouldn’t be staying in those racks. What they do is turnkey, they get it in and they get it out. They’ll just be able to get more volume in and be able to do it safely for our communities. It’s going to be the best thing ever.”
The Coastal Bend Food Bank provided more than 13 million pounds of food in 2021. They hope the new facility will help them reach their goal of 20 million pounds a year. Construction is scheduled to be completed in 16-18 months.
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