Denton Community Food Center Grows to Feed Denton
Construction has officially been completed on two new projects at the Denton Community Food Center (DCFC). The DCFC, which has been providing food assistance to those in need in Denton since 1974, has a new addition and fire lane that will increase their capacity and allow them to provide Denton residents with a higher quality of service. A partnership between the City of Denton, DCFC, and Serve Denton, who works to help nonprofits maximize their impact, brought both projects to fruition.
Pat Smith, CEO of Serve Denton, shared, “the [new addition] project started as an idea in the fall of 2020 when we saw the demand for the Food Center increase drastically because of the pandemic… It was something we’d always planned on doing, but we thought it’d be 10 years from now.”
Shortly thereafter, the DCFC and Serve Denton met with Danielle Shaw, Director of Community Services for the City of Denton, and presented the idea. In January of 2021, the DCFC and Serve Denton submitted a grant proposal for the project and received approval. Though delays ensued, ground broke on the project in February of 2022.
Tom Newell, Board Chair of the DCFC, explained, “the City of Denton, through Community Development Block Grant funding, has funded the expansion project and the paving of the fire lane. The City’s been a great partner with that.”
Danielle gave an overview of the funding and shared, “the funding consisted of a 2020 Community Development Block Grant - Coronavirus Funds of $439,483 and a 2022 Community Development Block Grant of $138,635.”
Capacity Increased
The new addition adds 4,500 square feet of space.
As for the project’s third partner, Tom added, “Serve Denton had the property we could build on and has acted as the general contractor/construction manager. We’ve had our bumps along the road, but Pat and Paul have helped us get through all that and turn the project into a successful project that benefits the community.”
On March 31st of this year the new addition and fire lane were both completed. The new addition adds a whopping 4,500 square feet (about the area of a basketball court) of space to the DCFC for additional food storage while the fire lane replaces a gravel road used by clients that was plagued with potholes.
“The City of Denton, Denton Community Food Center, and Serve Denton are committed to finding solutions that address hunger and poverty,” commented Danielle.
“While federal projects have complicated requirements and documentation, DCFC and Serve Denton had a vision for the impact of this initiative and worked tirelessly to ensure the projects were completed on time and under budget.” She added, “We cannot thank them enough for all their hard work and dedication!”
When asked about how the demand for DCFC’s services has increased, Tom contended,
“We thought Covid was tough, but the economy is harder on us. We’re seeing more people because of the economy than because of Covid.”
He went on to say, “The most interesting thing right now is that the number of new people we see daily has been increasing, but our overall numbers have only marginally increased… The number is staying steady in the 130-150 families each day of the two days we’re open”, Tom shared. “This is still way above the pre-Covid numbers.”
The DCFC is feeling the effects of the economy as costs continue to rise. Tom explained, “What used to be $100-125 worth of groceries is now almost $200 worth of groceries that we’re giving to each family as they come through.”
Pat pointed out that projects like these are why Serve Denton exists. He shared, “This is an example of building infrastructure for nonprofits that helps the Food Center distribute a whole lot of food very efficiently.”
“People think infrastructure is not important to nonprofits, but really high-quality spaces that are efficient improve their effectiveness.”
The conclusion of the project will be celebrated with a Ribbon Cutting on Thursday, May 4th at the Denton Community Food Center from 4PM to 5PM. The community is invited to attend and tour the new addition. Event details can be found here. Huffines and Subaru Corinth will also be honored for their generous support of the project.
In conclusion, Danielle expressed “Food insecurity impacts some of our most vulnerable community members and we are thrilled to be part of this critical Food Security project with DCFC and Serve Denton.”