The Capital Area Food Bank (CAFB) has begun operations at its newly expanded Northern Virginia Distribution Center.
After more than a year of construction, the nonprofit unveiled the 43,000-square-foot warehouse in Newington with a ribbon-cutting ceremony last Thursday (Sept. 26), celebrating the facility as a critical step forward in its ability to help feed people across the D.C. area.
“This larger distribution center will make a profound difference in ensuring that thousands of Northern Virginians can access nutritious food,” CAFB President and CEO Radha Muthiah said in a press release. “We’re grateful for the support of those who made this larger distribution center possible, enabling us to serve our neighbors effectively both today and into the future.”
Located at 6833 Hill Park Drive, the distribution center replaced a 12,000-square-foot warehouse that was built on the same site in 1982 and acquired by CAFB in 1998.
The need for a bigger, more modern facility in Northern Virginia became apparent to CAFB during the COVID-19 pandemic, when food banks around the country saw an explosion in people seeking assistance. CAFB alone reported distributing over 9 million meals at the peak of the surge in 2022, up from 5.2 million meals in 2019.
After staying roughly level in 2023, food insecurity in Fairfax County and the D.C. area overall ticked up this year, as even some middle-income households have struggled with the rising costs of food, housing and other expenses, according to CAFB’s annual Hunger Report for 2024.
Accordingly, the Capital Area Food Bank saw its meal distributions soar over 11.4 million for fiscal year 2024. Including food supplied to other nonprofit partners, the organization is now providing nearly 61 million meals to people in need.
“The timing could not be better,” Muthiah said of the expanded Newington facility’s opening. “With food insecurity rising in the last year, it further validates our decision to expand the size of this facility, so we can get more than double the amount of food out into the community than we could with the old facility.
Designed to support the needs of CAFB and its 100-plus partners, the distribution center boasts roughly 10 times as much cooler and freezer space as the previous building, allowing the food bank to store more fresh vegetables, fruit and protein, Muthiah told FFXnow.
There’s also more space for volunteers to meet, train and sort the food that comes in from farms, retailers and other sources before it’s distributed back out into the community. The facility has 10 truck bays and can accommodate as many as 30 to 40 volunteers at a time.
While there may be some exceptions, the food at the Newington facility will generally be destined for sites in Northern Virginia, while CAFB’s main 123,000-square-foot facility in D.C. will support its operations in the District and Maryland, according to Muthiah.
“Say, we get a tractor-trailer of fruits and vegetables in from a Maryland farm. It may make sense to house that in D.C., and as needed, bring it to support Virginia clients, or vice versa,” she said. “But yes, for the most part, the idea is to minimize the amount of time on the road and the emissions.”
With a final cost of $35 million, the expansion project relied on funding from both public and private sources, including $5 million from Fairfax County.
Muthiah says that contribution was “significant” on its own and “as a signal” that encouraged other governments to invest. The project ultimately got roughly $10.5 million in public funds, including money from other localities, the state of Virginia and Congress.
Top private donors include the Bedford Falls Family Foundation, which is run by longtime CAFB supporter Bill Conway and his wife. The couple have supported the food bank for almost two decades now, contributing to its food distribution efforts, the construction of its D.C. warehouse, and job skills programs.
The Newington facility is officially named the Bedford Falls Foundation Northern Virginia Distribution Center in recognition of a gift of over $5 million from the foundation.
“They have been significant champions of ensuring that we have good, fresh produce to be able to offer across the community,” Muthiah said. “In fact, our ability to ensure that 40% of all the food we distribute is fresh produce is in a large part due to their continued commitment over the years.”
She noted that the project also got help from companies like Giant and the Marriott Family Foundation, which is supporting the volunteer center.
“[It was] many, many different individuals, families, governments, as well as companies coming together, and to us, that felt very good,” she said. “It was the spirit of what we hope to see: community members helping one another.”
