Food Runners plans to build a 17,000-18,000 square foot building at the State Farmers' Market in an effort to better serve the thousands of hungry people in the Triangle area.
The facility will house Food Runners Collaborative Inc., a joint organization created by Meals on Wheels and the Inter-Faith Food Shuttle. The $3.5 million facility will house administrative offices, a commercial kitchen, storage areas and a distribution center that will serve Wake, Orange, Durham, Johnston, Chatham, Nash and Edgecombe counties.
"We think this is a win-win situation for the Farmers' Market, Food Runners Collaborative, and most importantly, the people of the Triangle," said Agriculture Commissioner Meg Scott Phipps. "The department has been involved in hunger relief efforts for many years through our support for the N.C. Food Recovery Summit, so we are excited about this partnership. If all goes well, we would like to consider expanding this concept to other farmers' markets across the state."
Meals on Wheels delivers hot meals daily to the elderly and other home-bound individuals. Inter-Faith Food Shuttle collects leftover food from restaurants and other food items from local grocery stores. The food is then taken to other hunger relief agencies in the area. Inter-Faith also operates the Fisherman's Project, which provides culinary skills to homeless men and women, so they can work in the restaurant industry.
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