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New 18,000-square-foot food pantry opens in Galesburg

Fish of Galesburg opened its newest food pantry that will replace its current location with the help of River Bend Food Bank.

GALESBURG, Ill. — Fish of Galesburg is teaming up with River Bend Food Bank to open their newest food pantry, located on the corner of Main and Henderson streets in the same building where Rheinschmidt's Carpet Center once stood. 

"Our current location would probably fit in just the shopping space we have now," said Elizabeth Culbertson, Fish of Galesburg's executive director. "I think volunteers are going to be blown away by how much space we have and how much more room we have to work and not on top of each other."

The current building only measures 1,800 square feet. The cooler area from the brand new building alone measures 4,800 square feet, giving the organization an opportunity to help out the community in ways that they couldn't before. The new building measures around 18,000 square feet, exactly ten times bigger than the current location. 

"Being in this location means we can have more easy access to maybe frozen proteins or fresh produce that we just don't have the storage space to offer our guests right now" Culbertson said. 

Culbertson said that they serve around 1,200 people each year, and they're hoping to see that number increase in the upcoming years. 

"13% of Knox County was facing food insecurity. We're hoping this more accessible location can help us narrow the gap on that percentage" Culbertson added.

Fish of Galesburg has been serving the Galesburg community for 52 years. 

The new pantry will officially be open next week to the public.

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