CAVE SPRINGS (KFSM)-- The Pack Shack held a ribbon cutting ceremony at their new 7,000 sq. ft. warehouse in Cave Springs on Thursday afternoon (April 27).
Bret Raymond, the organization's CEO, said they started back in 2013 in a storage facility.
They moved to another facility before finally calling Cave Springs home.
The group packages meals for those who are food insecure.
“What we’re seeing is we’re able to supply people who need food a nutritious meal," said party operations manager Drake Newkirk. "So what we’re doing is we have this meal, cheesy rice and vegetables, and it tastes good but it is also very nutritious.”
They are not a food pantry though.
The meals that are packaged at their facility are sent to other food banks and food pantries all around the country.
Raymond explained that this new facility helps them in three ways.
The first is it provides the group more space to house food.
They currently have enough ingredients for about 1 million meals.
One thing Raymond was excited about was a loading dock.
He said it may seem weird but the dock is a big help when they receive large shipments of rice.
They now have a party room to hose their Feed the Funnel parties where groups get together and package the food.
Raymond explains the last thing their new place helps with is visibility.
“So many people have stopped by to say what is it that you guys do?" said Raymond. "Sometimes with hunger it’s hidden and organizations that serve those in need are sometimes hidden. So being visible is really fantastic because it accomplishes the first thing we were tasked to do, which is to help increase awareness about hunger.”
Many at The Pack Shack are excited about the future of the organization.
Newkirk said he believes they will continue to grow as the years go by and provide more families with nutritious meals.
“We’re really passionate about what we do and a lot of people are wanting to partner with us," Newkirk said. "A lot of people want to make a difference they just don’t know how. We just want to help provide a way for someone to help make a difference within their community.”