In early 2023, The Mississauga Food Bank will be relocating from our current warehouse to a larger, more appropriately suited space. The move to a new location will increase our capacity to accept and store higher volumes of donated fresh and frozen food for neighbours experiencing food insecurity across Mississauga.
The organization is currently located at 3121 Universal Drive, a 21,500 sq ft facility that we have called home for eight years. At the beginning of our lease in 2014, we were distributing an average of 1.3 million pounds of food annually. Since that time, the need has grown and as of last year, we were distributing 5.2 million pounds of food out of the same space. With a 400-pallet capacity, we have had to resort to storing food offsite with increased cost and logistics involved, and turning away viable food to work within our space constraints.
We are excited to share, that as of early next year, we will begin our transition to our new home at 4544 Eastgate Parkway. Located just a few kilometres away from our current facility, we will be able to serve and expand our reach across the city and ensure our network of agencies across Mississauga are getting the support they need to keep up with the 60% increase in demand we’ve seen since the beginning of the pandemic. Our new 43,000 square foot facility will be retrofitted to increase our cold storage by almost 300%, allowing us to provide more fresh and frozen food including dairy, protein, and produce that our community urgently needs.
While we are in the beginning stages of planning the move and our transition into the new space, we would like to thank you, our community, for standing by our side as we work to make Mississauga a place where no one goes hungry.
Please stay tuned and check back for updates as plans move forward. The Mississauga Food Bank’s services will remain uninterrupted as renovations and the eventual move take place. We will launch a fundraising campaign to support the costs of this project in the near future.
