The Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, which feeds the needy across a 12-county area that includes the communities of Gadsden, Jasper and Talladega, has begun construction on a new distribution center in the city of Bessemer to replace the current facility in Birmingham.
The work kicked off April 3, 2025 with a groundbreaking ceremony at the site, southwest of Birmingham. AL.com reported that the new food bank warehouse is expected to open in the spring of 2026.
Its 12-county area includes Blount, Calhoun, Cherokee, Clay, Cleburne, Etowah, Jefferson, Shelby, St. Clair, Talladega, Walker and Winston.
Nicole Williams, CEO of Community Food Bank of Central Alabama, said the existing facility at 107 Walter Davis Drive in Birmingham is neither big enough nor well-equipped to handle the area's current need.
"It's not very efficient," she said. "The efficiencies of this new space, though, are really going to help our team move more food in and out to our [communities]."
Two years ago, Community Food Bank launched its Building Hope capital campaign before buying 17.13 acres in Bessemer in 2024 for its new warehouse and offices, approximately 8 mi. from its current location.
The new food distribution center will be twice the size of the old facility and is being constructed in an industrial park just off Lakeshore Parkway at 4336 Turin Drive.
A large, 13,395-sq.-ft. freezer/cooler space in the middle of the building will increase the capacity for refrigerated food, as well as more space for parking and large truck deliveries due to separate loading areas for inbound and outbound materials and 12 bays — two drive-up bays, eight dock levelers and two dock height doors.
The warehouse also has been designed to include an area for volunteers to build food boxes and more space for the food bank to accept and sort items that are donated.
In total, the modern facility will encompass 105,350 sq. ft. of space, of which 22,400 sq. ft. will be devoted to the Community Food Bank's administrative offices and another 5,956 sq. ft. for its volunteers to work.
Another $7 Million Needed to Finish Construction
"We currently move about 2 million pounds of food a month into and out of our warehouse to feed people," Williams told AL.com.
She added that there are many working people in the region who do not qualify for federal nutrition programs but may have experienced a temporary hardship because of unexpected health expenses or car repairs.
"It's the food budget that suffers," Williams said. "We are feeding people who are working and have families but are just a little short each month. [Our job is] to make sure they have enough nutritious food."
Freezes and cuts to U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) programs by the Trump administration since January 2025 have halted or eliminated at least $1.5 billion in the agency's funding for school meals and food banks.
The Community Food Bank acutely feels those actions, Williams said.
"The cuts from the USDA mostly affect the food that we get from organizations," she said. "We already know there are programs that have been canceled that have resulted in almost 3 million pounds of food for the food bank being lost this year. That equates to 2.6 million meals."
To offset those losses, the Community Food Bank of Central Alabama is asking for more donations.
"We did 25 million pounds of food last year, so we'll need to find that loss of 3 million pounds elsewhere. That might mean buying more food. We need folks to step forward and donate to the food bank so we can purchase more food. There's not ever enough to go around."
Helping feed hungry families has been a goal that has attracted a lot of community support.
So far, the community food bank has raised $24.5 million toward the cost of its new building and needs to raise $7 million more. While plans call for the current warehouse to be sold, with the proceeds going toward construction of the new building, it will not be enough to cover the additional millions that are needed to complete the project, she said in speaking to AL.com.
The food bank operates with 57 paid staff and thousands of volunteers who work with more than 300 partner agencies to distribute food throughout the region.
"I would love to say we can solve hunger," Williams said at the new facility's groundbreaking ceremony on April 3, 2025. "I don't think it's going to happen in our lifetime, [but] we can continue to work towards it."
