Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida is working hard to make a difference in the lives of thousands of people and hopes a large check will go a long way.
Congressman Maxwell Frost stopped by the food bank on Monday and presented a check for $200,000 to Second Harvest Food Bank to fund the purchase of a thermal storage system.
Derrick Chubbs, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, said the new equipment will help save energy and, more importantly, money.
“We run that freezer 24 hours a day, seven days a week,” Chubbs said. “We can turn off the lights at night and ultimately save 20% on energy costs, especially given the fact that we are actively looking for ways to source more food based on new demand. And this is of great significance.”
Chubbs said his current electricity bill is about $20,000 a month. He estimates the energy storage system will save him about $4,000 a month in energy costs. These savings come as Second His Harvest continues to provide approximately 300,000 meals per day to people at pandemic levels.
“Well, for us, a dollar is equivalent to four meals, so that’s a very high range in terms of the number of meals we can produce,” Chubbs said. “At the end of the day, we’re looking at 160,000 meal categories.”
A new thermal energy system will be used to power a huge walk-in freezer for storing essentials such as proteins, fruits and vegetables. Bill Collins, chief operations officer at Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Florida, said the new technology will give current cooling systems a much-needed break.
“It’s basically a passive system that uses modules that cool during the day and keep the refrigerator and freezer cool at night,” Collins said.
Second Harvest said it is ready to order a new thermal storage system as soon as it receives funding.
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