Valley welcomes Care and Share distribution center

ALAMOSA — The Care and Share Food Bank open house was an educational opportunity to introduce the plan for the old Budweiser building located at 5858 Budweiser Way, the newest distribution center in their network. A member of national food bank association Feeding America, Care and Share started in Colorado Springs in 1972 and was incorporated in 1974. Care and Share works to gather and distribute food to partner organizations, among those are 250 partners throughout Southern Colorado and 12 food pantries and meal programs in the San Luis Valley alone. The latest expansion was back in 1996 when they opened a new distribution center in Pueblo. A fully realized distribution center in Alamosa will allow Care and Share to streamline the process and cut lengthy and expensive stops out of a supply chain to help feed Southern Colorado.

From what will eventually become the cooler area in the new center, guests heard from speakers Care and Share Board President Tim Sullivan, Alamosa County Administrator Gigi Dennis and Care and Share CEO Lynne Telford as well as a short presentation on the impact that Care and Share has had in other communities.

Gigi Dennis has been a board member on Care and Share since April and spoke on how Care and Share would fit in a tightly knit community like the San Luis Valley.

“When someone needs a hand we are there to help, we are a very resilient region, we also believe in working and sticking together,” said Dennis speaking on the San Luis Valley. “I believe Care and Share has those very same values. No one should go hungry and everyone should have access to good nutritious food.”

Tim Sullivan spoke on his welcome to the valley.

“The level of community support that we are seeing here for the new facility that we will be cutting the ribbon for here today is quite amazing. My first time in the San Luis Valley and I am quite impressed. I know this will be the start of many years of good things for the community,” said Sullivan.

Lynne Telford took attendees on a little trip through history to help everyone to become more familiar with the organization from its start in Colorado. As well as the work that Care and Share does.

“Last year we delivered 25 million pounds of food in Southern Colorado,” Telford went on to try and explain how much food that is by illustrating that it would take 625 semis to carry that load and if they were lined up they were cover 6.72 miles.

“This distribution center will have a big impact on the fight against hunger and it is going to further our mission,” said Telford.

To get involved through volunteering and donations be sure to visit https://careandshare.org/


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