Increased need for local assistance drives $7M Serving Center expansion From the cover
The details
Two-minute impact
The Serving Center’s existing location opened in 2005 at 1099 E. Main St., Round Rock. It includes the clothing store, furniture store, food pantry and administration offices. The building is overflowing with donations, Store and Receiving Manager Kim Dulin said. Furniture, home goods, electronic devices and more spill into the parking lot, where the bread aisle is also kept during the day. “It’s my own personal Tetris game every day, trying to stuff all of our donations and merchan- dise into our small space,” Dulin said. In response, the center’s leaders and volunteers are trying to raise $7 million for an additional facility to be built next to the current location. The center’s two stores bring in around $500,000 annually, making up 35% of its revenue. The new space will house both shops, increasing revenue by a projected $1 million a year, Scott said.
The Round Rock Area Serving Center is a nonpro t organization working to ensure people are fed, have the clothing they need and are able to pay their bills. However, a rise in requests for help has overwhelmed the nonpro t, Scott said. In 2018, the center helped 48,262 people. In 2022, that number increased 81% to 87,400 clients, while the nonpro t is on pace to exceed that total in 2023, having served 59,695 people through August. Attributing much of this growth to a rise in population and the swelling cost of living, the center has plans to expand its facilities to address the increased need. “We haven’t seen our requests for assistance fall to the prepandemic levels,” Scott said. “It’s the cost of housing, gasoline, groceries—we’re all paying more for everything. So we’ve outgrown our building, and we’ve exceeded our capacity to increase our programs.”
Current building • 13,000 square feet • Generates $500,000 annually in revenue
New building • Additional 16,000 square feet • Projected annual revenue of $1 million
SOURCE: ROUND ROCK AREA SERVING CENTER/COMMUNITY IMPACT
Assistance provided at the Round Rock Area Serving Center
What they’re saying
“With COVID[-19], with a tornado, with the freeze, all we have seen is the increased need for nonpro ts like the Serving Center. It’s a
“I’ve been here 23 years, and it seems like a blink. It’s just one project after another—now we’re
getting ready to build a second building. We’re just so excited about the opportunity.” LORI SCOTT, SERVING CENTER EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR
blessing in disguise we’re expanding, but that also says there’s a need.” CRAIG MORGAN, ROUND ROCK MAYOR
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SOURCE: ROUND ROCK AREA SERVING CENTER/COMMUNITY IMPACT
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