History of Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma
On May 15,1980, the Oklahoma City Food Bank became the 21st food bank created in the U.S. and the first in the region. A 10,000 sq. ft. warehouse at 200 S.W. 5th Street was secured as the first distribution facility. In 1981, the Good Faith Donor Bill passed the Oklahoma Legislature relieving donors of liability for donations made in good faith and the Food Bank moved into a 14,000 sq. ft. warehouse at 8 N.W. 8th. In 1987, the Food Bank purchased a 37,000 sq. ft. warehouse at 30 SE 17th Street where distribution remained until May of 2000. In 2000, the Food Bank's changed its name to the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma to better describe the area served by the Food Bank and the distribution was moved to the newly constructed Donald W. Reynolds Distribution Center at 3355 S. Purdue. An expansion of the current site in 2009 added additional warehouse, freezer, dock and volunteer space – increasing the total size of the current facility to 150,000 sq. ft.
More than 66% of the total amount of food distributed by the Food Bank has taken place since 2000, when we moved into the Donald W. Reynolds Distribution Facility. We distributed 280,000 in our first year of operation. We now do that in about 3 days. Last fiscal year (ending June 30, 2009), the Food Bank distributed 28.5 million pounds of food. In 2008, the Oklahoma Center for Non Profits recognized the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma as the Outstanding Non Profit for the state.
Watch a video on the Regional Food Bank of Oklahoma.
