Moveable Feast, the Baltimore-based provider of healthy food to low-income residents suffering from life-threatening illnesses, will open a distribution center on the Eastern Shore.
The non-profit plans to open a distribution site in Dorchester County with funds it received from a $200,000 unrestricted grant from Bank of America Charitable Foundation.
Announced today, the foundation's 2013 Neighborhood Builders award will also be used be used to support the hiring of drivers who will service the new distribution site, which will be located in St. Andrew's Episcopal Church in Hurlock, and to buy kitchen equipment for Moveable Feast's culinary operations.
Moveable Feast was the sole recipient of this year's grant, according to a spokeswoman for the foundation.
Moveable Feast has been serving clients on the Eastern Shore for 17 years, according to Ted Blankenship, the organization's development director.
"It's been difficult to budget for," Blankenship said, citing fluctuating gas prices.
Drivers have been making the trip from the Baltimore headquarters twice a week, taking up to 2 1/2 hours to reach the first client.
Those trips will happen once a month when the distribution center is operational. "There will be freezers there to hold the meals," Blankenship said.
"The center will increase our ability to serve even more people on the Eastern Shore," Blankenship said, "even as we're saving money."