Food insecurity is a ‘public health crisis’ that Food Bank of the Rockies is helping to solve

When CEO Erin Pulling thinks about the new Food Bank of the Rockies distribution center, currently under construction in Aurora, what excites her most is the lobby.

This will be no mere entryway. Instead, Pulling calls “a welcoming center” where hundreds of daily volunteers will come to get their assignments. It will have meeting rooms where donors can congregate and glass windows so that visitors can peer into the warehouse and see the food bank’s mission in action.

“It really just is the epicenter,” Pulling said. “It’s a vision of what’s possible and what’s happening.”

The Food Bank of the Rockies broke ground on its new, $75 million distribution center more than a year ago and the project is almost to the finish line. Pulling said the organization has raised 90% of the funds needed to complete the build out and is currently running a campaign to raise the remaining $7.5 million. Operations are expected to relocate there this winter.

That may seem like a hefty price tag, but the new facility will immediately be a cost saver, Pulling said. The Food Bank of the Rockies currently rents a secondary warehouse for food distribution as well as an off-site parking lot for its delivery trucks, both of which it will be able to give up and bring in-house at the new facility.

Of course, Pulling’s excitement isn’t just about the efficiencies this facility will allow. At 270,000 square feet, the new operations hub will also enable the organization to expand its capacity to meet the growing needs of residents it serves in 33 Colorado counties and throughout the state of Wyoming.

The onsite kitchen, for one, will be four times larger with the ability to prepare up to 10,000 meals per day, Pulling said. More dock space and refrigeration will also allow the food bank to accept more produce and perishable items for those in need.

“Right now, we’re really just out of space and sometimes having to turn away donated food because we don’t have enough dock space or refrigeration space,” she said. “We can engage 300 volunteers a day in the new building, whereas right now we’re capped at 100 a day.”

The food bank’s upgrade couldn’t come at a better time, she noted. The number of food-insecure individuals across the U.S. is soaring alongside the cost of living. In 2023, about one in eight Coloradans (12.7%) were food insecure, according to an annual report by nonprofit Feeding America. The rate of local children facing insecurity was even higher that year, at 14.3%.

But Pulling said demand has continued to rise. Since June, the nonprofit has seen a 10% increase in the number of people seeking its mobile food distributions. In some areas, like Aurora, attendance has climbed more than 20%, she said.

With recent cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and changes to its eligibility criteria, Pulling expects future needs to be greater than at any time in the Food Bank of the Rockies 47-year history. At the same time, the organization has lost access to a portion of its food supply due to reductions in federal nutritional programs.

“Food insecurity is becoming more of a public health crisis than ever before, and this is really the perfect storm,” she said.

To meet demand, the Food Bank of the Rockies has grown from its humble roots “rescuing” food, like bread, headed for grocery store dumpsters to offer numerous programs that help get nutritious items to Coloradans who need them most. Most of the food it receives, through rescues or donations, helps stock pantries at more than 800 hunger relief organizations serving both urban and rural communities.

Additionally, the food bank prepares meals for kids in summer and after-school programs, deploys mobile food pantries to targeted communities, and offers home grocery delivery for older adults. Its Totes for Hope program sends children home with food to cover their weekend needs, and individuals with certain health conditions can also enroll in the Food for Health Program, which ensures they get curated boxes of food to keep their symptoms and vitals in check.

“The big shift over the last many years is more focus on nutritional quality of food and the cultural relevance of the food we are providing to make sure the food we are providing is familiar to the neighbors we are serving,” Pulling said.

Part of that work involves sustainably sourcing produce, which often has a short shelf life and can be difficult to rescue. Food Bank of the Rockies now purchases much of its fresh produce from Colorado-based farmers, helping boost local economies while simultaneously making these items more accessible – all in hopes of nourishing locals so they can reach their full potential.

“People experiencing food insecurity, if they’re turning in general to less expensive foods, we know that other factors of their life are likely suffering, such as their health status and then medical costs and then ability to perhaps maintain health, take care of kids, don’t have missed work, things like that,” Pulling said. “It’s such a cycle and the right nutritious food is such an important element of that cycle for people to be successful citizens and decrease their eventual dependence on food banks and food pantries.”

People who donate money to the Food Bank of the Rockies can make their dollar go farther. Because of its massive purchasing power, just $1 translates to the equivalent of three meals, Pulling said. Don’t have any spare change? Every day, the organization’s distribution centers in Denver and Grand Junction depend on more than 100 volunteers to package food and cook meals.

Find more information about the opportunities at foodbankrockies.org.

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