Foodlink has launched a $15 million project to upgrade mission-critical facilities and equipment at its headquarters on Mt. Read Boulevard and its Lexington Avenue community farm.
Over the last five years, the organization's work as the hub of the region's emergency food system has taken a toll on its food bank, kitchen, fleet, and equipment, according to officials. In turn, that threatens its ability to keep up with rising demands for food assistance.
"It's going to improve Foodlink's ability to continue to respond to the community," Foodlink President and CEO Julia Tedesco said during a news conference Thursday. "So we're going to be able to safely purchase and store food and get it to our community. We're going to be able to continue to visit sites throughout Rochester on the curbside market. We're going to be able to expand garden plots."

Foodlink distributes more than 25 million pounds of food annually. And in 2024, visits to the local food pantries and meal programs that Foodlink supplies rose 36% compared to the prior year.
The organization is planning several projects that will develop in phases through 2027. They include:
- Installing a new energy-efficient cooler that will more than double the food bank's cold storage space for produce and dairy, among other things.
- Moving the Curbside Market into a new loading dock and operations space that's four times larger than its current facility.
- Adding dry storage space for the commercial kitchen, which produces more than 10,000 healthy meals and snacks each day which are served to children and seniors at around100 sites across Monroe County. Plans also call for installing additional ovens in the kitchen.
- Improvements to the parking lot and exterior lighting.
Foodlink also bought land to expand its community farm from 70 plots to 120 and plans to install more raised beds. And it plans to add an Edible Education Center and greenhouse to the site.

Terra Keller, Foodlink's COO and CFO, said there's been a long waiting list for plots.
"It is the largest urban farm in the region," Keller said, "and to be able to invest $2.5 million into that space, to show those community members that their voice was heard and what they wanted is being done, I think just goes to set an example for other neighborhoods that may want to do something similar."
Foodlink has received money for the upgrades from several sources, including federal and state agencies, the city of Rochester, and state tax credits. It's also using a portion of a $5 million gift from philanthropist and Paychex founder Tom Golisano.
But the organization still has a gap of a little over $5 million to close, and it is seeking contributions.