Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida has exceeded the 20,000 meal a day capacity of its current production kitchen due to the heightened, sustained need for food during the pandemic. The production kitchen supports Kids Cafe and Summer Food Service Programs, in addition to Plates of Plenty and plays a pivotal role in providing hot meals during times of hurricane relief. In the last six months, the production kitchen has ramped up its efforts to fight hunger by distributing 1.5 million meals.
With generous support from Orange County Government’s CARES Act funding and community support, the new Mercy Kitchen, located just a few miles north of the main Orlando warehouse, will double the size and triple the capacity of food production. The new space will include the expanded production kitchen, a cooler and freezer area, and dry storage to support the production kitchen operations. Six receiving and distribution bay doors will allow for efficient operations. Mercy Kitchen plans to open in early December 2020.
Reception and volunteer check-in area. 
Area for dry storage. 
Home of a new cooler and freezer. 
Entrance to new Mercy Kitchen. 
New production kitchen space.
Take a tour of the new space with Nancy Brumbaugh, Food Services Director at Second Harvest.
Stay tuned for more exciting updates on this project, including new opportunities to volunteer in the fight against hunger, coming soon!
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Hello, I’m a local chef, and a food writer, and I’d like more information on how I can donate time in your production kitchen. Thank you! Kristin
Hi Kristin, that would be amazing. We have volunteer opportunities for the production kitchen listed at http://www.feedhopenow.org/volunteer.