Saint Matthew’s House opens new food warehouse next week

A new 10,000-square-foot Collier County food warehouse managed by Saint Matthew’s House will begin feeding a community in need starting next week.

Right now, the Saint Matthew’s House food bank serves around 6,000 families each week, and this warehouse, located at 4535 Domestic Ave., will help serve even more people struggling to make ends meet. Its new food warehouse will include a new walk-in freezer for meat and other perishable food, and fruit and vegetables will also be available, all for free. Saint Matthew’s House says the demand has been rapidly growing, so opening the warehouse to serve more families should give many families peace of mind, knowing help is out there.

“Right now, we’re seeing just high, you know, high numbers and record-breaking numbers,” said Lorna McLain with Saint Matthew’s House. “We knew that we had to expand, and we knew that we had to find a place called home. We were previously renting and leasing in a location, and the opportunity just came along for us to find a place to call home.”

Volunteers for Saint Matthew’s House say they see new and more faces every time they hold a food distribution event.

“It is first come, first served, but we will never turn anyone away,” McLain said. “We’ll have everything from fresh herbs, garden produce, milk… we’ve expanded our partners, we have a lot of items here that our families can choose from.”

Food bank officials say they expect the warehouse to open next Monday.