Food bank fundraiser kicks off in Milford

Dani Messick, Goshen News, Ind.
Updated ·2 min read

May 22—MILFORD — The Milford Food Bank kicked off a $1 million fundraising campaign for a new distribution warehouse on James Street on Wednesday.

"We just want to serve God. We just want to serve our community. We just want to feed people," said Milford Food Bank operations manager Bill Doege.

Doege said currently the food bank supports 183 partners including churches, recovery homes, soup kitchens, and more.

Every month, the food bank gives out around 400,000 pounds of food out of their small warehouse and a nearby The Papers warehouse. The impact is upward of 50,000 people across Indiana and southern Michigan across 25 counties.

"We're filling gaps," Doege said. "We don't ask a lot of questions. We just want them feeding people in their community and that's what they're doing."

Doege said the new facility will be around 12,000 square feet with two truck docks, a packing room for volunteers, and offices. The current facility across the street will remain as the distribution center. So far, the nonprofit hasn't had to pay a dime to get the work done.

"The community has supported us, all of these businesses, and people that want to come out and give us a hand," Doege said. "They come out and they do this work because they know what we're doing and they have a love for the Lord."

Trees were cut down, a home torn down, basement filled, dirt donated.

"It warms my heart every time I see something out here," he said. "We're already ahead of the game."

He thanked the volunteers and companies for their support.

"Every time I see someone out here doing this work, it makes me want to work harder," Doege said.

He said he hopes the new building will help them to continue to grow.

"This was the kind of work that Jesus said his followers would do," said food bank volunteer Regg Beer. "We would be people who would give to the hungry and the thirsty and create a community for the strangers, create a community for the people who were seeking community, seeking to be loved, seeking to be known."

Tony Cirillo, Kosciusko County Council, also spoke on behalf of the council and State Rep. Ryan Mishler, who was unable to attend.

"It's great to have a town that's behind us and supports us," said board member Joe Shetler.

Doege said the lowest quote for the building was around $750,000, but the board is seeking to raise $1 million to account for any offsets.

Two years in the making, groundbreaking for the building itself is expected in late spring of next year.

To donate, visit https://www.gofundme.com/f/xpktzx.

Dani Messick is the education and entertainment reporter for The Goshen News. She can be reached at dani.messick@goshennews.com or at 574-538-2065.