Second Harvest breaks ground on expansion project

By Kirsten Stokes

Second Harvest Community Food Bank held a groundbreaking ceremony Friday, marking the official beginning of a $3.5 million expansion project.

The organization plans to add an 11,500-square-foot cold storage facility, two new high docks and an agency loading area at the 915 Douglas St. location.

Community members, local partners and area and state officials gathered to show their support for the new development.

Andrew Foster, development specialist, and Chad Higdon, chief executive officer, are both looking forward to the expansions, as the organization is currently operating on one dock door to provide food and nutrition to the 19 counties and two states they serve.

“It will enable us to serve more safely, more efficiently and ultimately care for more families in the region,” Foster said.

“We’ve been looking at this for a long time, and it’s really exciting to see it all come together because it’s really going to help us meet our distribution needs for the next 20 years,” Higdon said.

Higdon said construction is set to begin as soon as possible and will be conducted by Al J Mueller Construction Co. Of the $3.5 million needed for project completion, Foster said Second Harvest has currently raised $2.9 million.

A grant provided by the Missouri Department of Economic Development of $1.6 million from American Rescue Plan Act funds has brought the expansion one step closer to a completion date of the end of the year, which both Foster and Higdon are hoping for.

Kim Froemsdorf, director of the federal initiatives division of the Department of Economic Development, said Second Harvest is nurturing people, changing lives and making the state of Missouri better.

“Through our mission, we strive to create opportunities for Missourians to prosper. And believe me, it wouldn’t be possible without all of the people here today working together to make this project happen,” Froemsdorf said.