Mark your calendar for April 18-24! Midwest Food Bank Bloomington-Normal will be hosting "Serve Week." If you've thought about volunteering or if you are a current volunteer at MFB, this is a great week to serve and connect with other people who share the volunteer spirit. We will have multiple projects ready, and it will give everyone a tast...
One of John Pesaturo's spare-time activities is fixing up used bicycles and donating them to children in need. With a giving heart like that, John is a natural fit for Midwest Food Bank. As MFB New England's new Operations Manager, John brings 15 years of warehouse management with him. He is responsible for food procurement, inventory, an...
The cows roaming throughout the Haitian countryside are primarily descendants of cattle brought to Haiti five centuries ago. Despite this, the country faces considerable hurdles to reaching milk self-sufficiency. Due to low-producing cows, the absence of refrigeration, and the expense and difficulty of transportation, the domestic he...
The numbers are in for 2021, and it was a year of blessings. Midwest Food Bank spent $14 million and distributed $430 million worth of food. Put another way, for every dollar donated to MFB, $31 worth of food was given to those in need. MFB serves nearly 2,100 nonprofit partner agencies. Generous donors and dedicated volunteers make those numbers p...
For 12 years, Midwest Food Bank Indiana operated out of a "small," 12,000 sq.ft. warehouse space (story here). During the pandemic, long-time MFB supporter Steve Kopetsky generously offered us warehouse space on Kopetsky Drive (story here). We also leased an additional 18,000 sq. ft. of space at the same location. MFB Indiana i...
Midwest Food Bank has again received a four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the nation's top charity evaluator. MFB has received this recognition every year since 2011. Only 3% of charities receive a four-star rating for ten consecutive years. The rating is based on MFB's demonstration of robust financial health and its commitment to accountabi...
The operations of Midwest Food Bank Morton are different than other MFB divisions as it serves as the packaging and logistics warehouse for all of Midwest Food Bank. By being the hub for coordinating and managing certain operations, MFB Morton creates efficiencies for the entire organization. An example of this synergy is the MFB Tender Mercies pro...
"Each of you should use whatever gift you have received to serve others, as faithful stewards of God's grace in its various forms." - I Peter 4:10 Smiles, food, and cleaning supplies are free on the third Friday of each month at Trinity Covenant Church in Manchester, CT. That's when the church puts ministry in action through Hope 4:10 ba...
We are grateful for God's blessings as we continue our soft launch phase. Warehouse shelving is beginning to fill as we obtain products from existing organizational relationships and new distributors in our region. We are utilizing 30% of our approximately 1,500 pallet positions, containing everything from Kellogg products to first aid items. One o...
Midwest Food Bank Texas joined The Dallas Police Department, Paul Quinn College, David W Carter High School to provide a holiday food giveaway. The event was held on December 20 at Paul Quinn College. Dallas police flooded the campus wearing smiles. They brought these groups together to serve an underserved and often forgotten population in Ea...
Michelle Zelesky heard about Midwest Food Bank New England when she was volunteering at another non-profit. Now she volunteers at MFB weekly, loading vehicles on distribution day, sorting groceries, and operating a pallet jack in the warehouse. "I have seen so much progress in the facility since I began volunteering," says Michelle. "I li...
At many Midwest Food Bank locations, volunteers serve from The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-Day Saints (LDS). Their words describe their time of missionary calling: "As missionaries, we leave our homes for 18-24 months and go wherever we're called. We spend our time serving others and sharing the gospel of Jesus Christ with as many people ...
Some people might call it an internal nudge. Local community member Nikki Reiland describes it as a "heart ping". Whatever you call it, Nikki says it means she wants to lend a hand. She got one of those pings in November, but this time she wanted to do something for the community, something bigger in scope. Nikki took to social ...
Box builder, natural leader, road warrior. That is a quick way to describe three people, volunteers of the year 2021, at Midwest Food Bank Bloomington-Normal. Let us introduce John Lindahl, Greg DeBo, and Steve Whaley and tell you how they impact MFB day-in and day-out. John Lindahl - John has become an expert at assembling boxes for...
As with all MFB volunteers, truckers are crucial to our mission. Donated and rescued food often means arranging transportation. Even local trips to grocery stores add up in milage. For National Truckers Week in September, MFB highlighted a number of our volunteer truckers. As we continue to share volunteer truck driver stories. two more&...
You don't have to be at Midwest Food Bank Texas long before you'll see Mike Stuart. He is here daily, often for six to eight hours. You can find Mike in the warehouse, driving a forklift. Mike is retired from the Thomson Rueters Corporation. He is a widower with four children, eight grandchildren, and even one great-grand. Mike was lookin...
Haiti endured a brutal, heart-rending year in 2021 as political and economic turmoil built to a crescendo by the year's end. Security collapsed following the assassination of their president in July and a massive earthquake in August. Movement of food and fuel slowed and then crept to a virtual halt as kidnappings and violence exploded in...
People often refer to fellow volunteers at Midwest Food Bank as "family." Working together to help others creates a unique bond between people. And like any family, MFB volunteers celebrate with each other and cry with each other. The MFB Georgia family started the year off with a birthday celebration! Faithful volunteer Billy Hargrove turned...
Fruitful ministry is about collaboration. Kapu Africa (Midwest Food Bank East Africa) was a part of just such a collaboration in November. Kapu Africa, Spread Truth, the National Government, Office of MP Uganja, and the National Youth Council worked together, each bringing a unique service to the about 1,200 people that attended in Ugunja in Siaya ...
Even when separated by distance, language, and culture, a simple story of love can show us we have much in common with people a world away. "May our almighty God who is never outdone in generosity bless you abundantly." These were the words written in a thank you note from Star of the Sea Mental Health Initiative to Kapu Africa (Midwest F...
