Statesboro's city government is directing an additional $250,000 — this time from interest earned on the city's federal ARPA grant cash — to help local charitable nonprofit Food Bank Inc. complete its new $2 million-plus building at 506 Miller St. off Northside Drive West.

Meanwhile, Bulloch County officials intend to provide another $70,000 for the project, likewise from the county's ARPA fund interest.

"From the outset of this project, it was never intended for the Food Bank to have a large debt for this building, and ultimately, the building belongs to the City and County," Statesboro City Manager Charles W. Penny summed up a June 13 memorandum to the mayor and council. "The Food Bank Board and staff needs to focus on assisting people in our community that have food insecurity."

Thus, Penny's recommendation memo, which includes a brief review of the project's funding so far, also appears aimed at clarifying the ownership of the building. The last action item on the City Council agenda for the 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, June 18 regular meeting is consideration of a motion to approve using the $250,000 from American Rescue Plan Act, or ARPA, grant interest to assist with construction of the Food Bank building.

"In March during the City Council retreat, I shared with you the need for additional funding to assist with the completion of the Food Bank building," Penny states to the city's elected officials.

The city and the county initially committed $500,000 each toward the new building, for a total of $1 million. That was first proposed in late summer 2021 when the source was each local government's share in ARPA federal stimulus package cash. Under ARPA, $12.3 million was allocated to the city of Statesboro and up to $15.4 million to Bulloch County, to be directed by the local governments to various federally accepted purposes, one of which is addressing community "food insecurity."

However, not everything originally suggested when the city and county directed that first $1 million to the Statesboro Food Bank went as hoped, Penny acknowledges in his memo. Originally, the plan was for the county to apply through the Georgia Department of Community Affairs for another $1 million funding for the Food Bank under the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act.

"Unfortunately, the county was not able to apply for the funds for reasons unrelated to the county," Penny wrote, "and meantime, the Food Bank had to relocate from the former Julia P. Bryant location."

The Food Bank previously operated out of the old Julia P. Bryant School on Donnie Simmons way, virtually rent-free. But the charity's departure from the old school had been expected for about two years, since the Bulloch County Board of Education contracted to sell a portion of the campus to a developer who is building a senior-living community. Currently operating only a food pantry program distributing "meal boxes" of groceries for home preparation, Statesboro Food Bank moved in September to temporary, leased space in a building at 1545 Morgan Way, off Veterans Memorial Parkway near U.S. Highway 301 North.

As Penny noted, the Food Bank board is seeking a $300,000 loan from a local bank, and also additional funding from the county. He stated that the Food Bank had raised $200,000 and is continuing fundraising efforts.

That fundraising cash total is now about $225,000, Statesboro Food Bank Executive Director Sheila Stewart-Leach said when phoned for an update Monday. The construction loan is "in process" and "should be finalized within the next week or so," she said.

Pantry complete

But most significantly, the Food Bank is now slated to move from the temporary Morgan Way location to the rear portion of the new building at 506 Miller St. off Northside Drive West within two weeks. That is the "pantry" portion of the new facility, and much remains to be completed in the front portion, toward Northside Drive, which will include the dining hall, kitchen and classrooms for nutrition classes and other programs.

However, since Statesboro Food Bank currently operates only the "meal box" or pantry program, it will be able to move into the pantry at the new building and open to the public there July 1, said Stewart-Leach.

"We'll be moving into the pantry — as you know it's called the Joe Bill Brannon Pantry — at the end of this month," she said. "The public area, the front, is not finished yet, and will not be, probably until this fall."

Ceilings remain to be suspended, equipment for the kitchen and furnishings for the classrooms purchased and restrooms built out and their fixtures installed.

But with the storage space completed and freezers and coolers operating in the rear pantry area, which takes up about 6,500 square feet of the building's approximately 12,000-square-foot interior, a transition is imminent.

"We're moving pantries. Morgan Way will shut down on June 30 and we'll reopen on July 1 (at 506 Miller St.) for the meal-box program, which is what we do in the pantry," she said.

A ribbon cutting ceremony specifically for the pantry is being planned for July 17. 

County contribution

Meanwhile, the county's $70,000 additional contribution to the Food Bank project was added as a third "new business" item on the Bulloch County Board of Commissioners' 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, June 18 agenda.

"This will be paid out in the current fiscal year, so it is not included in the FY25 budget and will be coming from interest earned on the County's ARPA funds," county Chief Financial Officer Kristie King stated in a reply email to the newspaper.