Project Just Because announced Thursday that it has started a fundraising campaign to purchase its own building.

The Hopkinton nonprofit currently leases a facility on South Street. It plans to buy a building on the same street and move in by July of 2022. The goal is to raise $2.5 million.

“We cannot continue scrambling for space and dedicating more and more of our budgets to escalating rents; we need a permanent home,” the organization stated in a press release.

Project Just Because was founded more than 20 years ago, originally operating out of a Hopkinton basement, the release states.

It has grown to become one of the area’s largest pantries — serving 40,000 clients in 2020 — providing food, clothing and other necessities to individuals and families in need.

For more information, visit the PJB website or Facebook page.