March 20, 2003 was a big day in Southern Nevada, as it was on that date Clark County and the larger community came together to officially dedicate the new 50,000 square foot warehouse for the Community Food Bank of Clark County. This facility cost $3.1 million. Clark County provided $400,000 in General Fund monies to pay for the real estate options on the structure and $2.7 million in HUD Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) funds was used to pay for the facility once it was completed.

Left: Mr. Roy Porter - Las Vegas HUD Senior Community Development Representative Center: Ms. Bessie Braggs, Executive Director for the Community Food Bank of Clark County Right: Commissioner Yvonne Atkinson Gates from Clark County.

This new facility is located on Pecos Road and East Craig Road, almost adjacent to Interstate 15 and the Craig Road exit. The tilt-up concrete structure is located in an industrial zoned area and consists of 3,500 square feet of office and the balance is rack and warehouse space. The building has eight loading docks for big trucks and two drive in ramps for other non-profit agencies to pick up the food.

The Community Development Block Grant program is an anti-poverty program designed to improve the living conditions of low and moderate income people. Developing this Community Food Bank warehouse is definitely in line with this mission, as feeding people is critical if we are to help them achieve their full potential. Commissioner Gates put this succinctly at the dedication when she said: �Providing food to hungry people is the first step in any anti-poverty program. Hungry children do not do well in school. They get sick more often, and generally are focused on survival instead of higher-level pursuits. Feeding people first is thus good public policy and creates the possibility of success for all other initiatives.�

Food banks are �win-win� arrangements that represent a positive partnership between the private and the nonprofit sectors. In making a donation of food or surplus items, the private sector donor can get a tax write-off and the nonprofit food bank receives the donated items. The food bank in turn temporarily stores and then sells the donated food at cents on the dollar to another nonprofit agency that directly provides the food to the hungry. The food bank uses these proceeds to cover their costs of operation (utilities, maintenance, staff costs, etc.) The larger society benefits as the hungry get fed and our landfills are not prematurely filled with cans of surplus food that still have nutritional value.