We celebrated our Grand Opening on Thursday, September 10th, to a crowd of almost 100 people!
Elected state and county officials, neighborhood residents, funders, and government partners all came through the doors of Bull City Cool to welcome the new Food Hub to the neighborhood. Senator Floyd McKissick, Jr. was one attendant of the Grand Opening and complimented the vision and positive impact of the new addition to the neighborhood, “It was wonderful to see visionary plans executed in such an extraordinary way that will greatly benefit our community.” Senator McKissick is a four-term State Senator and a lifelong resident of the neighborhood.
Peter Skillern, Reinvestment Partners’ Executive Director, addressed the large crowd in the hub’s warehouse in a moving speech about the positive change that community reinvestment can make, and the promising potential of Bull City Cool to build out the local food economy. Skillern explained the role of the food hub as, “intermediaries, or an aggregator, for a host of groups that will be buying from local farmers and redistributing.”
Skillern also contextualized the neighborhood redevelopment contributions of the Food Hub by highlighting the decrease in 911 calls at the nearby intersection of N. Roxboro and E. Geer streets. “Just a couple years ago, we had five-hundred 911 calls per year, for four years in a row, just in that intersection. Now that’s dropped dramatically, we’re coming back as a neighborhood,” he said.
Those attending the event also had an opportunity to chat with our non-profit tenants, Farmer Foodshare and Inter-Faith Food Shuttle, and learn about their operations. In addition to meeting Bull City Cool’s hunger relief tenants, our guests enjoyed local breakfast hors d’oeuvres and learning more about connecting the different pieces of the North Carolina food system. “We think the great turnout indicated the community spirit surrounding the food movement, and also captured the essence of Bull City Cool – to connect people and organizations to strengthen to North Carolina food systems,” said Bull City Cool’s Project Manager, Amelia O’Rourke-Owens.
