For the past several years, the Food Bank of Northern Nevada has often found itself in the painful position of having to turn away food donations because of inadequate storage space. That's all expected to change next year when the food bank opens a new distribution center in Reno.

The Food Bank of Northern Nevada has received an $8.1 million grant from the Donald W. Reynolds Foundation to help fund the construction of the state-of-theart distribution facility. The grant will cover the $6 million needed to build the facility and surrounding roadways, plus the costs of large coolers and freezers, furniture and other equipment.

"If we didn't have this grant, we would seriously [question] our ability to build this facility," says Cherie Jamason, president and chief executive officer of the food bank. But Jamason, who reports that her staff worked for five years to land the grant, says the food bank had few options but to build. "We needed more refrigeration for perishable items," she says. "We have had to turn away food because of [a lack of] storage space. We had to pass it along to other food agencies."

Though the Food Bank of Northern Nevada will continue to collect and distribute about three million pounds of food annually, the new facility should easily accommodate the volume. The 66,133square-foot building will be three times larger than the current facility, which will be vacated about the time the new food bank opens.