The Arena will be used for volunteer staff registrations and welfare facilities, to aid the huge relief effort being undertaken by Wolverhampton Council, which is centring around the venue which more commonly hosts exercise sessions and election counts.
The council has already identified the vulnerable citizens who will be eligible for the scheme, and correspondence has been sent out to make them aware. The vulnerable people are classed as either being elderly or those with pre-existing health conditions.
The hub is believed to be one of the first of its kind in the country, after the council followed a Government request for local authorities to deliver food supplies to vulnerable residents.
At full capacity, the distribution centre will send out parcels for 33,000 people and employ up to 500 council staff, all while operating around the clock.
Council leader Ian Brookfield told the Express and Star: "This is the biggest council operation I have ever seen while working in local government. I think the job we are doing is fantastic. These are unprecedented times.
"We have changed the focus of what the council was doing a few weeks ago to come together and keep safe 33,000 of our citizens, working in partnership with the NHS."
