Helping Harvest Fresh Food Bank received an unusual delivery Wednesday.

A wrapped 53-foot refrigerated tractor-trailer arrived at the food bank’s facility in Spring Township.

The new vehicle is the first of its kind bought by the nonprofit.

It has the capacity to carry 80,000 pounds of food and will greatly enhance the food bank’s ability to take large donations of food from local food manufacturers and wholesalers, Jay Worral, president of Helping Harvest, said in a news release.

“I can’t believe the size of it,” Worrall said. “We typically put about 90,000 pounds of food in our trucks every day. To be able to expand the amount of food we can pick up and deliver by this magnitude is truly amazing to me.”

Helping Harvest traded in one of its fleet of eight 26’ trucks to get the new vehicle.

The nonprofit also owns a 12-foot truck and two large transit vans.

“On Saturday, we had to send three trucks to deliver 25 skids of food to one of our church pantry partners. That is three trucks and three drivers,” Worral said. “That is a delivery we should now be able to make with one truck.”

The cost savings, he said, means more money to purchase more food for local people in need.

Helping Harvest is the leading provider of food to those in need in Berks and Schuylkill Counties.

The food bank delivers food to over 350 partners in the two counties, and last year provided over $16 million in food to 110,000 area residents.

The nonprofit is a member of Feeding America, the nation’s largest hunger-relief organization.

Helping Harvest depends on monetary and food donations.

To donate visit Helping Harvest’s website at https://helpingharvest.org/donate/.