The Innovate Fund Provides $6MM of New Markets Tax Credits Funding to Second Harvest Food Bank of Coastal Georgia
Savannah, Ga. (Feb. 12, 2024) — The Innovate Fund, a Community Development Entity based in Greenville, S.C., has announced a significant New Market Tax Credit investment of $6 million in America’s Second Harvest Food Bank of Coastal Georgia’s project. This investment will fund the construction of a new distribution hub and warehouse facility that will enable the organization to expand its food distribution services in a 21-county service area. The new facility is expected to open in the second quarter of 2024.
America’s Second Harvest Food Bank of Coastal Georgia serves a community that faces significant economic and geographic challenges, including a poverty rate of 45.3% and a designation as a USDA-recognized food desert. These impediments lead to more than 114,760 Coastal Georgia residents struggling with food insecurity, which makes affordable access to healthy foods a critical concern for the community.
The New Market Tax Credit loan provided by The Innovate Fund will play a vital role in addressing these challenges. By supporting Second Harvest Food Bank’s mission to end hunger, this loan will directly improve the lives of individuals and families within their service area. The new facilities will provide a central location and essential support to more than 230 non-profit agencies in Coastal Georgia.
“This development will offer countless opportunities for new and improved ways to reach our service area, expanding our capabilities to provide meals and services to those in need, and host even more volunteers,” Second Harvest Executive Director Mary Jane Crouch said.
The project site also will support Second Harvest’s various community service programs. The expanded square footage and more centralized location will allow Second Harvest to provide meals and boxes of food to more than double their previous number of low-income children through their Kids Cafe program. This new location will also increase services to seniors in hard-to-reach rural areas through the Brown Bag for the Elderly program as well as provide ancillary support to partner agencies that operate in rural communities where hunger relief is limited through the mobile food pantry.
The Innovate Fund’s investment in the project demonstrates the organization’s commitment to underserved communities. “Through this partnership, The Innovate Fund aims to increase access to healthy foods, address food insecurity, and improve the overall well-being of individuals and families in Coastal Georgia,” said David Barnett, The Innovate Fund board president.
