By Keith Knepp
InkFreeNews
MILFORD — Leaders from the Milford Food Bank officially unveiled their plans on Wednesday, May 22, to raise $1 million to build a new warehouse and offices. The proposed 12,000 square-foot building will be located on East Emeline Street in Milford, just east of the railroad tracks. The new building will be directly across the street from the facility currently being used by the food bank. Additionally, the food bank stores much of its inventory in unused warehouse space at The Papers Inc., through the donation of Publisher Ron Baumgartner.
The press conference began with Milford Food Bank’s board president, Joe Shetler. “We’re all so excited to kick off a fundraiser, celebration, whatever you want to call it, for a new distribution center for Milford Food Bank, and that’s going to happen right behind us. A lot of people are are really excited about this, including all the volunteers here, all the board members, the building and planning department down in Warsaw. I think our town council, Milford’s excited about it.”
“We’re just here to celebrate what God has been doing,” added Regg Beer. “Our verse here, it’s on our sign, this is a verse that our founder, Bill Troup, really established the mission on. It says, ‘For I was hungry and you gave me food, I was thirsty and you gave me drink, I was a stranger and you welcomed me. (Matthew 25:35)’ This verse really speaks to the purpose of the food bank.”
Also speaking was Milford Town Council President Doug Ruch, who was introduced by Shetler as “a great supporter of what we’re doing here.”
“It’s a pretty dedicated group here,” said Ruch. “I just want to lend a hand of support to any and all of those who have helped make this a dream come true. The fact that they can take food that otherwise would be (thrown away) and help people, revitalize people, that’s what it’s all about.”
Tony Ciriello, member of the Kosciusko County Council, spoke on behalf of State Sen. Ryan Mishler, who could not attend the event.
“I know Ryan is very supportive of Milford and what they do,” said Cirieillo. “On behalf of him, I want to say congratulations, Joe, and the board, on what you guys are doing. This is a tremendous effort to provide food to the people who need it in this community and the surrounding communities, and I can guarantee you help in any way, shape or form we can.”
Finally, Bill Doege, director of operations for Milford Food Bank, addressed the audience.
“I just want to say thank you to everyone who came out today,” Doege said. “I just appreciate you supporting us through this whole growth process. The people who we touch every day are remarkable. We couldn’t do it with out Him in the forefront. I tell people, I’m just the hands and feet. I’m just out there collecting the stuff and answering the phone calls. Just doing the work that He called me to do years ago.”
Doege went on to say that Milford Food Bank is supporting 183 food partners, including pantries, men’s and women’s recovery homes and food kitchens.
“We’re touching many lives through all kinds of different points of their lives with our food that goes through this building every day,” he said. “Every month, we’re giving out right over 400,000 pounds of food through this tiny, little building and our gracious warehouse building that Ron lets us use over here at The Papers Incorporated. Ron is a huge asset to us. I want to make sure that I give him kudos. What he does makes this all work. Without that building over there we couldn’t store the 7,000 square foot of food that’s sitting over there right now.
“It’s just amazing to see how this has all started from five pantries. … Where we’ve taken it from that point to now, it opens my eyes everyday when I see people over here excavating, tearing the house down, doing all this work here, and they do it free. Right now we really haven’t spent a dime over here. The community has supported us, all these businesses, just people who want to come out and give us a hand. They come out and give us a hand because they know what we’re doing and they have a love for the Lord. … This lot wouldn’t look like this without them. It just makes me want to work harder. I just can’t wait until the new building is up so we can grow our numbers even more.”
For more information about the Milford Food Bank and how you can contribute to the building fund, you can contact Doege by email at [email protected] or by phone at (574) 354-8450. You can also visit milfordfoodbank.org or check out their Facebook page.
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