The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina (FBCENC) has provided food for people at risk of hunger for over 30 years in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina. The nonprofit organization's substanial growth in recent years forced them to began the search for a new location outside of the headquarters facility in Raleigh, NC.
FBCENC reached out to Durham-based Cree, Inc., located less than 20 miles from the new space, to light the 85,000-square-foot distribution and community center. Cree’s LED lighting technology will save an estimated 48% on energy usage and deliver better light quality compared to traditional options.
“We searched for the right community partners to help us achieve our goals for this facility,” says Charlie Hale, FBCENC VP of IT and operations. “Cree’s lighting solution provided an opportunity to install something that is not only more energy efficient but avoids maintenance issues while helping improve our operations. The new lighting has provided an enhanced workspace on all fronts, including ensuring that volunteers can see clearly when repackaging and sorting food items. They no longer have to use their cell phone flashlights to properly read the labels.”
Cree’s lighting is proving to be a key contributor to helping FBCENC effectively reach out to the public and spread the word of their services.
“The new lighting has enabled us to get our story out to the community in a more vibrant fashion than we otherwise could have,” says Jessica Whichard, FBCENC senior manager of communications. “We’ve been shooting quite a few videos inside and the production teams have been really impressed with the lighting. The facility looks just phenomenal in the videos. It has also helped us to enhance our social media presence with higher quality images from volunteers at work."
