New facility expands food security with ready-to-eat meals and community involvement
Jacksonville, Fla. –– April 29, 2026 –– Feeding Northeast Florida (FNEFL) unveiled its brand new Florida Blue Community Kitchen and Culinary Center today, with a volunteer and ribbon cutting event at its Northwest Jacksonville headquarters. The new facility, supported generously by Florida Blue, expands how the organization serves its neighbors by turning fresh, nutritious ingredients into ready-to-eat meals for individuals and families who need them most.
More than 80 GuideWell - Florida Blue team members, including Tony Jenkins, Florida Blue’s Northeast Market President and Lisa Bowen, GuideWell’s Senior Vice President and Chief of Staff, joined Feeding Northeast Florida staff, board members and volunteers for the dedication ceremony. They volunteered their time sorting and packaging food for upcoming distribution events and helped officially open the new kitchen space.
"At Florida Blue, our mission is to help people and communities achieve better health and we're proud to partner with Feeding Northeast Florida to bring the Florida Blue Community Kitchen to life,” said Tony Jenkins, Northeast Florida Market President. “By expanding access to nutritious meals and nutrition education, we’re addressing a critical aspect of health and well-being. This partnership underscores our commitment to addressing the social determinants of health, including food insecurity, and we're excited to see the positive impact it will have on the lives of our neighbors in Northeast Florida."
The 3,000 square foot kitchen will significantly enhance the food bank’s nutrition education programs, allowing for additional growth in its cooking and nutrition programming for the communities the food bank serves. Individuals will be able to take part in cooking classes, ongoing education and participate in events, all in a state-of-the-art environment.
“We have long planned for a commercial kitchen to enhance how we serve our neighbors struggling with food insecurity. When we moved into this new warehouse space in July 2024 we immediately began planning the kitchen as a phase II project,” said Susan King, President & CEO of Feeding Northeast Florida. “Seeing it come to fruition today is extremely gratifying. Corporate partnerships, like this one with Florida Blue, make our work possible. We look forward to using this new space to help support and feed our community into the future.”
Feeding Northeast Florida currently serves 12 counties throughout Northeast and North Central Florida. More than 310,000 individuals, including 90,000 children, throughout the region face food insecurity and may not be sure where their next meal will come from. Expansions like this community kitchen will allow the food bank to serve even more individuals in need and in new and enhanced ways.
The Florida Blue Community Kitchen enables the food bank to extend its reach beyond traditional food distributions, providing healthy, thoughtfully prepared meals through its existing network of partners, as well as through growing healthcare collaborations that recognize food as a critical part of overall well-being.
The nonprofit food bank relies on community support, philanthropic and corporate giving and grants. For every $1 donated, FNEFL can provide six meals to community members facing food insecurity. For more information about FNEFL, donation opportunities or to sign up to volunteer, visit feedingnefl.org.
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About Feeding Northeast Florida
Feeding Northeast Florida (FNEFL) is the region’s largest nonprofit (501c3) food bank and hunger relief network. FNEFL provides nutritious foods and other essential goods to those in need and strives to improve the quality of life for people living in and around Northeast and North Central Florida by addressing food insecurity, poverty and poor health. Alongside our network of food distribution, agency and community partners, the Food Bank provides food resources and hope to help all people living in our 12-county service area (Alachua, Baker, Bradford, Clay, Duval, Flagler, Gilchrist, Levy, Nassau, Putnam, St. Johns and Union) who struggle to feed themselves and their families. Feeding Northeast Florida works daily to find solutions to address the issues of food insecurity and poverty through awareness, advocacy, education, and action in ways that promote dignity, respect and empowerment. For more information, visit feedingnefl.org.
About Florida Blue
Driven by its mission of helping people and communities achieve better health, Florida Blue is the leading health insurer in Florida, and part of GuideWell, a not-for-profit health solutions company. Florida Blue offers a range of health plans and personalized care programs for individuals, families, businesses of all sizes, and Medicare beneficiaries. For over 80 years, the organization has been member centric and committed to making health care as accessible and affordable as possible. Serving more than six million members across all 67 Florida counties, Florida Blue has more than 7,000 employees and is headquartered in Jacksonville, Fla., is owned by its policyholders, and is an independent licensee of the Blue Cross Blue Shield Association.
For additional information visit www.FloridaBlue.com. For the latest news and content, visit the Florida Blue Newsroom, and follow Florida Blue on Facebook, LinkedIn, and Instagram @Florida.Blue; and X (formerly Twitter) @FLBlue.