Food Share of Ventura County will have a future home on Oxnard’s Mariner Drive.
Officials with Ventura County’s largest food bank said they have secured a 12-acre parcel near Wooley Road where a new 85,000-square-foot facility will be built “to meet the growing demand and strengthen the region’s hunger-relief infrastructure for the long term,” Food Share leaders said in a Jan. 30 news release.
The nonprofit has operated out of a Southbank Road facility near El Rio since 1985. President and CEO Monica White said they have been pushed to the limits by community need.
“After 40 years in the same location, the need to expand our food bank is now critical. This new home for Food Share will ensure we can serve our neighbors — today and in the future.”
Food Share officials said demand for food assistance has tripled since 2019. Food Share serves over 250,000 people each year with 200 nonprofit partners and 335 distribution sites to provide more than 21 million pounds of food.
Three warehouses will be consolidated into one centralized operation which will double the warehouse space and cold-storage capacity. A commercial production kitchen will also be built for disaster response and a “Volunteer Action Center” is planned to support 4,500 volunteers.
A $50 million capital campaign has been launched and more than $32 million has been raised so far, including $13 million in state, county and federal grants.
White said the new facility will improve efficiency, reduce congestion and allow Food Share to accept and distribute more shelf-stable and fresh food.
“Last year alone, we had to turn away nearly 8 million pounds of donated food due to lack of cooler and rack space,” White said. “This new facility will double our annual distribution capacity — from 21 million pounds to 40 million pounds of food.”
Food Share Board Chair Drew West said experts were engaged to assess current constraints, project future demand and define operational requirements for a food bank of the future.
“As a board, our responsibility is to ensure that an initiative of this magnitude is grounded in community need, led by thoughtful analysis,” West said. “This project is not only aspirational, but essential to meet today’s needs while ensuring Food Share remains resilient and sustainable for generations to come.”
More information on supporting the project is available at www.foodshare.com/future.
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