Tomi Brooks describes herself as a huge sports fan. Her work life also was in the sports arena as the Operations Coordinator for the NCAA for 23 years. That experience helping young people compete and be part of a team will come in handy as she builds a roster of volunteers at Midwest Food Bank Indiana. Tomi joined the Indiana staff as Volunte...
Senior executives from Vanguard's Global Investment Operations recently met at MFB Arizona to hold a business strategy session. One of their agenda items was "learn about Midwest Food Bank." During that session Vanguard employees also did hands-on volunteering repackaging bulk food. MFB frequently receives corporate donations o...
School is out for summer, and kids will be at the swimming pool, ball diamond, riding bikes. And volunteering at Midwest Food Bank. Yep, kids love to spend their time volunteering, and MFB has many tasks that are just right for kids. Here is what a few of the younger volunteers at the Morton location have to say about service. "It makes me feel goo...
In her professional career, Anne Ambwere chose the ethical path. It's a walk that helped her as the leader of Jamii SACCO in East Africa. SACCO stands for Savings and Credit Cooperative Society, and it is a membership-based financial institution. Under her 20-year leadership, Jamii SACCO has become highly profitable while still maintaining core val...
As the events in Ukraine unfold, we've watched as refugees have fled their homes, struggling with great loss. One Midwest Food Bank Texas board member, Rich Stoller, decided to see if he could help. Combining the strengths of MFB with three other organizations, Rich has been able to coordinate the overseas shipment of a load of Tender Mercies, MFB'...
Three organizations are influential in supporting Midwest Food Bank - the Caterpillar Foundation, GROWMARK, and State Farm. All three are top supporters of MFB operations in Illinois and beyond. Over the past year, all three have supported MFB in the form of grants - $56,000 from the Caterpillar Foundation, $50,000 from GROWMARK, and $150,000 from ...
Podcasts are here to stay, and they have exploded in popularity. Consider this: there are about 4.5 million podcasts registered globally, and 57% of people in the US have listened to at least one podcast (according to thepodcasthost.com). Because podcasts are easily accessible and allow listeners to zero in on content that interests them whene...
When Bill Dunbar volunteered at Midwest Food Bank Normal, he was not about being recognized for his work. He preferred to work quietly and get the job done. Bill passed away suddenly and unexpectedly in December 2020, leaving a void in his family and at MFB. Bill's first volunteer time at MFB was with a group of co-workers from State Farm. He...
Some people have a way of filling up a room with a positive atmosphere. Take JC, one of the adults that volunteer at Midwest Food Bank, Arizona. JC loves to wear hats and was the inspiration behind a "hat day" at MFB. She is one of a handful of adults from Special Needs Services who volunteer three days a week at the food bank. They come with a job...
It was a team effort on Super Bowl Sunday in Chandler when volunteers worked with a local church to give family food boxes to people that need them. It started before that with a $40,000 grant from the City of Chandler to Midwest Food Bank Arizona. The grant was specifically for food boxes in low-income areas of the city. On that Sunday, volunteers...
Knowing about something and experiencing it firsthand are two different things. A community health course at Bradley University takes book knowledge to a real-life experience through a poverty simulation exercise. The class also connects the dots for students as they learn how food pantries and food banks work together and how those resources can h...
During the last ten years, Brittany Parker and her husband have started a family and put down some roots. In 2020, when the youngest of her four children went to kindergarten, she decided it was time to start giving back to her community. "I wanted to contribute to the community and found Midwest Food Bank's mission to be authentic and genuine...
Loving neighbors. Feeding souls. Those are great taglines, but the action that follows goes beyond words. Those taglines are the action of Central Storehouse, a food pantry in Fort Worth, TX, that is a ministry of Central Bible Church. The pantry receives food from Midwest Food Bank Texas. "Midwest Food Bank is a critical partner of the Centra...
In Lodwar, Turkana County, Kenya, the soil may be dry, sandy, and challenging for things to thrive, but the children at Ngakoriyek Academy are growing every day. "Our learners were happy to drink porridge at 9 a.m. and eat rice for lunch for the first time on February 21 of this year," says Andrew Musundi, a retired teacher who founded and directs&...
Over 150 people in the Immokalee area receive food every month due to the efforts of a local family. Bob Klein, his wife Louise, and his daughter Mary, along with local volunteers, run a food pantry at the Corkscrew Baptist Church in Naples, FL. The Kleins also operate a local school for 20 youths from their community. In addition to thei...
Cheryl Poulin offered to "do whatever is needed" when she started volunteering at Midwest Food Bank New England. That offer turned into building automation into our Excel inventory spreadsheets to help us be efficient and accurate. While that might make some people turn in the other direction, Cheryl has taken on the challenge. Volunteeri...
Mercy Housing and Shelter in Hartford, CT, an MFB New England nonprofit partner, is working to "break the cycle of homelessness." The problem is tackled with five different approaches. Those five programs are: St. Elizabeth House - This is a 40-bed residence for people with HIV/AIDS, women in substance abuse ...
Will R. spends as much time as he can at The Friendship Center. He says it helps him "stay out of trouble." The Friendship Center is one of five Mercy Housing and Shelter programs in Hartford, CT, working to break the cycle of homelessness. This day shelter is where Will eats breakfast and lunch five days a week. He can also take a shower...
Three people volunteer at Midwest Food Bank Peoria with reliability and consistency to make sure the bookkeeping responsibilities are completed. We want to introduce you to Tom, Lynn, and Claire. They each have a different path that brought them to MFB, but they share the servant spirit. As you will see, they also share a love of travel. ...
Leave what you can and take what you need is the motto of the Riverside Community Fridge in downtown Peoria. The Fridge is a ministry of Riverside Community Church. Take a look inside and you will find milk, eggs, packaged meat, carrots, lettuce, strawberries, and other nutritious items that need refrigeration. The Fridge is stocked through do...
