Rescue Mission plans to expand food-services center

SYRACUSE — The Rescue Mission next spring plans to break ground on a more than $6 million renovation and expansion of the organization’s food-services center at 148 Gifford St. in Syracuse.

The nonprofit’s main office is located across the street at 155 Gifford St.

The facility’s dining room is currently designed to seat no more than 80 to 100 people. The renovation and expansion will nearly triple seating capacity, adding a family-dining area.

“The food-service project is a three-phase project that we have. We’ll be adding a dock here. Right now, we currently serve 70 meals … at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have usually [attendance of] 200-plus at every meal,” David Allyn, the Rescue Mission’s capital-campaign chairman, said in speaking with reporters at an Oct. 25 event. 

He spoke after officials from KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) presented a check for $200,000 to the Rescue Mission to help cover the costs in the renovation project. 

KeyBank Foundation will provide the funding “over the course of four years,” according to a news release on the donation.

The KeyBank Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation funded by Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyCorp, KeyBank, and their affiliates. 

“Here at the Syracuse Rescue Mission, that mission of thousands of people coming through their door [on] any given day who are homeless, who have needs, who need a chance to have a place to stay, a meal to eat, a chance to get back on their feet, really resonates with all of us as we think about the things our community needs to do to help create that safety net,” Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of KeyCorp, said in remarks at the food-services center.

Mooney and Stephen Fournier, Central New York market president at KeyBank, presented the check to Allyn.

The project work will start in the back of the facility. “We still have to keep serving meals during this whole process,” he noted.

“The building itself will expand. We’ll actually have two serving areas. Right now, we just have one serving area,” said Allyn. “We’ll have a larger warehouse space. A lot of the food is donated.”

King+King Architects LLP is handling the design work on the expansion project, according to Allyn. The organization has yet to choose a contractor for the project.

The event took place a few days before the Rescue Mission announced that CEO Alan Thornton planned to resign from his position on Nov. 17.

Thornton is leaving the organization to become president & CEO of Washington, D.C.–based St. John’s Community Services, the Rescue Mission said in a news release.

Rescue Mission COO Corey Kociela will serve as interim CEO following Thornton’s departure.

Expanding training program

In addition to helping the Rescue Mission accommodate the hungry, the renovation and expansion will help “improve and expand” an on-site program offered with the Syracuse City School District for training in the food-service industry. 

The program has a 94 percent job placement rate, “training Rescue Mission clients and the wider community,” per the release. 

With a larger kitchen and classroom, enrollment in the program will double from 10 students to 20. 

The expansion will also enable the Rescue Mission to have more volunteers, expand food storage, and accommodate more food donations and bulk-produce purchases.

The Rescue Mission’s food-services center at 148 Gifford Street “serves a critical role in alleviating hunger in Central New York,” the organizations contended in the release. 

The center in 2016 provided 227,110 meals to more than 9,000 people. 

SYRACUSE — The Rescue Mission next spring plans to break ground on a more than $6 million renovation and expansion of the organization’s food-services center at 148 Gifford St. in Syracuse.

The nonprofit’s main office is located across the street at 155 Gifford St.

The facility’s dining room is currently designed to seat no more than 80 to 100 people. The renovation and expansion will nearly triple seating capacity, adding a family-dining area.

“The food-service project is a three-phase project that we have. We’ll be adding a dock here. Right now, we currently serve 70 meals … at every breakfast, lunch, and dinner. We have usually [attendance of] 200-plus at every meal,” David Allyn, the Rescue Mission’s capital-campaign chairman, said in speaking with reporters at an Oct. 25 event. 

He spoke after officials from KeyBank (NYSE: KEY) presented a check for $200,000 to the Rescue Mission to help cover the costs in the renovation project. 

KeyBank Foundation will provide the funding “over the course of four years,” according to a news release on the donation.

The KeyBank Foundation is a nonprofit charitable foundation funded by Cleveland, Ohio–based KeyCorp, KeyBank, and their affiliates. 

“Here at the Syracuse Rescue Mission, that mission of thousands of people coming through their door [on] any given day who are homeless, who have needs, who need a chance to have a place to stay, a meal to eat, a chance to get back on their feet, really resonates with all of us as we think about the things our community needs to do to help create that safety net,” Beth Mooney, chairman and CEO of KeyCorp, said in remarks at the food-services center.

Mooney and Stephen Fournier, Central New York market president at KeyBank, presented the check to Allyn.

The project work will start in the back of the facility. “We still have to keep serving meals during this whole process,” he noted.

“The building itself will expand. We’ll actually have two serving areas. Right now, we just have one serving area,” said Allyn. “We’ll have a larger warehouse space. A lot of the food is donated.”

King+King Architects LLP is handling the design work on the expansion project, according to Allyn. The organization has yet to choose a contractor for the project.

The event took place a few days before the Rescue Mission announced that CEO Alan Thornton planned to resign from his position on Nov. 17.

Thornton is leaving the organization to become president & CEO of Washington, D.C.–based St. John’s Community Services, the Rescue Mission said in a news release.

Rescue Mission COO Corey Kociela will serve as interim CEO following Thornton’s departure.

Expanding training program

In addition to helping the Rescue Mission accommodate the hungry, the renovation and expansion will help “improve and expand” an on-site program offered with the Syracuse City School District for training in the food-service industry. 

The program has a 94 percent job placement rate, “training Rescue Mission clients and the wider community,” per the release. 

With a larger kitchen and classroom, enrollment in the program will double from 10 students to 20. 

The expansion will also enable the Rescue Mission to have more volunteers, expand food storage, and accommodate more food donations and bulk-produce purchases.

The Rescue Mission’s food-services center at 148 Gifford Street “serves a critical role in alleviating hunger in Central New York,” the organizations contended in the release. 

The center in 2016 provided 227,110 meals to more than 9,000 people.