Three Square Food Bank Opens New East Campus Facility on Hunger Action Day
Three Square Food Bank today recognized the grand opening of its new 31,087-square-foot East Campus facility, located at 3915 E. Craig Rd. Joined by representatives with the City of Las Vegas and Clark County, Three Square executives hosted a special ribbon cutting to commemorate the building’s debut on Hunger Action Day, where efforts across the country are focused for greater hunger-fighting impact and awareness.
“This facility has been many years in the making and – given the health and financial challenges Southern Nevadans are facing in the wake of COVID-19 – its completion couldn’t have come at a more perfect time,” said Three Square Food Bank President and CEO Brian Burton. “The East Campus allows Three Square to help even more of our neighbors in need, especially seniors, whose struggles with hunger and isolation have only been exacerbated during these unprecedented times.”
Construction of the East Campus was supported by key donors as well as federal funding from the New Market Tax Credit Program (NMTC) and The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).
The facility is complete with: a 14,000-square-foot warehouse; a freezer and cooler, each at 3,500 square feet; a 3,000-square-foot volunteer room; and 7,200 square feet of office space. In addition to increasing Three Square’s food storage capacity, the space also allows the nonprofit to expand programs and bolster services, including:
Senior Hunger Programs
Now housed at the East Campus, Three Square’s Senior Hunger Programs has the space needed to continue to expand Golden Groceries, which provides healthy supplemental groceries to those 60 years of age and better who are food insecure.
At the start of the year, Golden Groceries served approximately 7,400 clients a month, which jumped significantly due to COVID-19 response efforts. Operating out of the new facility will now allow the program to serve more than 10,000 seniors monthly.
Golden Groceries restores choice and dignity to older individuals by enabling them to choose the amount and type of food that meets their specific nutritional needs from available inventory. In addition to home delivery and curbside options, the program is offered at more than 30 pantry locations throughout Southern Nevada, with specific days and times for seniors in order to avoid long lines.
More information about Senior Hunger Programs – and its recent partnership with Lyft offering free rides for seniors to Golden Groceries pantries – is available by calling the Three Square Center at 702-765-4030 or visiting www.threesquare.org.
Three Square Center
By relocating to the East Campus, the Three Square Center has nearly doubled the capacity of its ‘call line,’ allowing it to connect with even more of Southern Nevada’s hard to reach food-insecure populations, including homebound seniors, people with disabilities, working families seeking services and non-English speaking households.
In 2019, the Three Square Center received an average of 15,000 calls per month. Following the pandemic-induced statewide shutdown in mid-March, the call line received 7,000 calls in just two days. The new building allows the call line to maintain its expansion and continue managing high call volumes.
The Three Square Center call line helps connect individuals seeking assistance with: Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) applications, Energy Assistance Program (EAP), Project Reach, Golden Groceries, Medicaid, Medicare Part D and more. It’s open Monday-Friday, 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., and can be reached at 702-765-4030.
Advocacy
From the East Campus, Three Square’s Government Affairs department, which consists of a registered team of lobbyists, will continue working with stakeholders and elected officials at the local, state and federal levels to advocate for and create policy that benefits the health and wellbeing of the communities Three Square serves.
In addition to maintaining a strong presence in Washington D.C. and working proactively with the Nevada delegation on federal nutrition programs, the team leads and supports grant writing processes for advocacy-related funding.
For more information about Three Square’s new East Campus facility – located at 3915 E. Craig Rd., North Las Vegas, 89030 – and the services and programs it houses, visit www.threesquare.org.
About Three Square Food Bank
Three Square is Southern Nevada’s only food bank and largest hunger relief organization, serving Las Vegas and all of Clark, Lincoln, Esmeralda and Nye counties. Since opening in 2007, Three Square has provided more than 385 million pounds of food to hundreds of thousands of people in need and earned a reputation as one of the most efficient and effective food banks in the country. When the COVID-19 pandemic struck, Three Square immediately implemented a disaster response plan to answer sudden school and business closures, drastic declines in retail food donations, social distancing limitations on volunteer efforts, reduced on-site staff support, and the need for low-contact food distributions. Within days, Three Square had increased food distribution by 250,000 meals a week and increased the capacity of its Call Center to refer Southern Nevadans to available food resources, social services, and unemployment benefits. While Three Square’s COVID-19 relief efforts have superseded regular programs and operations for the foreseeable future, it is more committed than ever to its mission of providing wholesome food to hungry people, while passionately pursuing a hunger-free community. Three Square is a member of the Feeding America network of food banks. If you or someone you know needs food assistance, or wants to learn more about Three Square’s vision of a community where no one is hungry, please connect at threesquare.org, Facebook (@ThreeSquareFoodBank), Instagram (threesquarelv) and Twitter (@threesquarelv).
