Montgomery County Food Bank celebrates grand opening

MONTGOMERY COUNTY, Texas -- The Montgomery County Food Bank celebrated the grand opening of their new facility September 30, located at 3 Prospect Point, renamed One Food for Life Way, off S. Trade Center Blvd., east of I-45N and to the north of SH 242. (77385)

An open house began at 4:00 p.m., and the programming started at 5:30, with MCFB Board Chairman, Mitch Eichelberger, addressing the crowd. The official ribbon-cutting took place at 6:30 p.m.

Of those needing food assistance in Montgomery County, forty percent are children, ten percent are seniors, and ten percent are single-family income homes, mostly female. For every dollar donated, 3.5 meals can be provided. The number of individuals that the Food Bank is providing for, has almost doubled in just three years. Three years ago 22,000 hungry people were being fed monthly; now 40,000 people are being fed on a monthly basis.

The Food Bank has a daunting task which wouldn’t be possible without the generosity of the community through food drives, fundraisers, and monetary donations. Board member, Nancy McCoy, recants the benevolent gesture of Dennis Zastrow, a retired law enforcement officer who moved to Conroe from Wisconsin, who left in entire estate to the Montgomery County Food Bank. The business center section of the Food Bank has been named the “Zastrow Welcome Center” in his honor.

“We also placed a small plaque beneath the sign identifying this area of the Food Bank giving a little background information on Mr. Zastrow,” said McCoy. “I asked the executor of Mr. Zastrow's estate, Brian Portugal, for some background info. He provided it, beautifully. And I added a few sentences based on my conversation with a Food Bank employee who knew him. It made me very proud to see this tonight.”



Not everyone may be in position to make the kind of donation that Dennis Zastrow contributed, but the synergistics efforts of the community can accomplish the objective of the Food Bank...to feed the hungry. For more information about the Montgomery County Food Bank: food drives, volunteer opportunities, partnerships, fundraisers and other events, call 936-539-6686, or visit their website at the link provided. A link has also been provided to make online donations.