Nourish Now, which collects surplus food and redistributes it to the needy, held a ribbon cutting at its newer, larger warehouse on East Gude Drive in Rockville Wednesday.
The new space has room for five times as much food and includes a huge walk-in freezer and refrigerator. There is room for “almost half a million pounds of food,” said Brett Meyers, founder and executive director.
Nourish Now is expected to be fully operational in its new location in July. It currently operates at Taft Road in Rockville.
The non-profit began in 2011 and has collected 14 million pounds of food since then. The food comes from restaurants, grocery stores, bakeries and caterers. Some 45,000 pounds of food are collected and donated throughout the county monthly.
Councilmember Andrew Friedson said he has been “a friend of Nourish Now since Brett was running around in his Honda with frozen chickens.” He praised the non-profit organization and the work it has done both before and during the pandemic.
Of all the basic human needs, food security is number one, Friedson said. “If people don’t have food, if families don’t have food, if children don’t know where their next meal is coming from, nothing else matters.”
Maryland Comptroller Peter Franchot also attended the ribbon cutting, noting that there are still far too many food lines. He was instrumental in obtaining state funds that were used to refurbish the new facility.
