Quick take
- The Food Bank held a ribbon cutting Friday, Oct. 30, at its new facility at 204 Exchange Street in West Monroe. It is the group’s first permanent, standalone home in its 30-year history.
- The building is 100,000 square feet, more than double the 45,000-square-foot rented warehouse in Monroe it replaced, with more than four times the cold and frozen storage.
- The Food Bank launched Feeding Our Future, a $14 million campaign. More than $11 million has been committed, and about $3 million is still needed.
- Once fully running, the site can handle up to 15 million pounds of food a year, the Food Bank said. It serves 12 parishes, including Ouachita, Lincoln and Union.
The Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana officially opened its new home in West Monroe on Friday morning, Oct. 30, with a ribbon cutting, the Food Bank announced. It is the first permanent, standalone site in the group’s 30-year history, KNOE reported.
The facility is at 204 Exchange Street in West Monroe, according to the Food Bank’s contact page. It is 100,000 square feet, more than twice the size of the 45,000-square-foot rented warehouse the Food Bank used in Monroe. It has climate-controlled warehouse space, more than four times the cold and frozen storage, work areas for volunteers and a covered drive-thru loading area for community partners.
How it came together
The warehouse was owned by Graphic Packaging International, which donated half the value of the property, the Food Bank said. With a grant from MacKenzie Scott, the Food Bank bought it outright. The site will be called the Jean and Saul Mintz Family Campus, after the Food Bank’s founding family, and the warehouse will be named the Graphic Packaging Center for Hunger Relief.
The campaign
Friday also kicked off Feeding Our Future, a $14 million campaign to pay for the purchase, renovations and upkeep. More than $11 million has been committed so far, the Food Bank said, and it is looking for about $3 million more. Details are at foodbanknela.org/feedingourfuture.
“This ribbon cutting represents more than the opening of a building. It is the opening of new opportunities to serve our neighbors experiencing hunger,” Executive Director Jean Toth said.
Who it serves
The Food Bank serves about 39,000 people a month and gives out more than 8 million pounds of food a year across 12 parishes, it said. Once fully running, the new site will double that capacity, to as much as 15 million pounds a year. The parishes, as listed on the Food Bank’s find food page, are Caldwell, East Carroll, Franklin, Jackson, Lincoln, Madison, Morehouse, Ouachita, Richland, Tensas, Union and West Carroll.
The Food Bank’s office is open 8 a.m. to 4 p.m. Monday through Friday, its contact page says. The phone number is 318-322-3567.
Sources
- Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana: Food Bank NELA Opens New Home for Hunger Relief (Oct. 30, 2026)
- KNOE: Food Bank of NELA celebrates ribbon cutting of new home for hunger relief (Oct. 30, 2026)
- Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana: Contact
- Food Bank of Northeast Louisiana: Find Food Now (service area parishes)