The Second Harvest Food Bank has outgrown its present site and is adding a second 22,000-square-foot warehouse with three loading docks located to the west of its existing facility on Industrial Park Drive.
With the interior of the second warehouse reaching nearly 20 feet in height, the cubic feet capacity of the building nears 440,000 cubic feet when boxes are stacked up near the roof serving the needs of food banks and the people they help in San Joaquin, Stanislaus, and Merced counties as well as foothill communities 
Lucille Harris of Tuff Boy Trailers and her family donated $2,500 to begin a fund to retrofit the interior of the new cold and dry foods storage area.  The new freezer will take up 1,700 square feet and the remaining 2,700 feet will be devoted to cold storage with another 18,000 square feet left to hold dry food products and canned goods.
The five family members toured both the old and the newer quarters. Harris said her family encouraged her to make a donation to the Second Harvest Food Bank where it would do the most good for those most in need in the community.
 Additional firms in the Manteca business community have also offered to help with the major costs associated with the new warehouse. CEO Mike Mallory said he expects plans for the building to be submitted for a plan check with the City of Manteca within the next week.  The purchase of the new building has been covered by fund raisers from past years including the recent Empty Bowls gala held at Sysco Inc. in Modesto.   
The smaller, existing food bank building’s front office will be turned into a board room and a training room, Mallory said.  The larger building had been owned and operated by the Gardner Denver Corporation for the past 30 years. They recently moved their California location to Chicago.
Mallory said site work remains to be completed along with ADA compliance and the resurfacing of the parking lot in front of the building. 
“Everything is going to be so efficient,” he said. “It’s going to have racks for the different food packages that will be quickly identified.”
He said he doesn’t plan to hire additional personnel because they won’t be needed with the added efficiency of the office and warehouse operations.  He said he hopes the entire updated food bank will be on line by July.
Mallory added that the warehouse will have all new plumbing and electrical service along with new restrooms. The motor pool of trucks will remain on the existing site to the east on Industrial Park Drive.