ALBANY, Ga. – The Second Harvest Food Bank will be shutting down its Albany operation.

Second Harvest also operates in Valdosta, Douglas, and Thomasville, and serves 30 counties.

Senator Freddie Powell Sims was critical of the organization in early May, WALB reported.

Chief Marketing Officer Eliza McCall told WALB Wednesday that the organization will be ceasing all business and operations of their Albany location, which serves Dougherty, Lee, Terrell and Sumter counties.

“As many of you know, some community leaders in the Albany area have claimed that Second Harvest is not adequately serving the community and have demanded that we leave,” McCall said. “Over the last 90 days, we have made every good faith effort to address all the issues that were raised to us, but our critics are still calling for another food bank to replace us. This is frustrating and disheartening for our whole team.”

The organization will also work with Feeding America in the coming weeks to “ensure that the food insecure in this community do not experience a gap in services,” McCall said.

The group drew a big crowd recently in Albany, when it assisted Albany parents by giving out free items to help keep their families fed when schools let out this summer.

McCall said the organization is in talks with another South Georgia community that is “eager for us to establish a branch there.”