Every volunteer has a story about why they serve at Midwest Food Bank. For Duane and Cheryl Whitlow, their story includes a history of volunteerism and a unique love story. Prior to meeting each other and serving at MFB, both Duane and Cheryl believed in service to the community. Duane coached and mentored individuals with personal finance matters ...
Midwest Food Bank donors are not only generous but creative. They come up with various ways to raise money and awareness for MFB. Tony Escobar, a representative of Thrivent, has a history of supporting organizations that provide food to people in need, and he looks for ways to get that done. He recently hosted a French cooking ...
COVID-19 changed a lot of things, and food pantries had to adjust. For Share the Meals in Fayetteville, Georgia, that meant shifting their services. Before 2020, Share the Meals used the food from MFB to create meals to feed the homeless. During the pandemic, they altered their service to pack food boxes that are delivered bi-monthly to ...
"All in" is how Brent Carl describes an energetic volunteer at Midwest Food Bank New England. That volunteer is Linda Spinelli, and she started volunteering after a tour given by Brent, the Volunteer and Community Relations Manager at MFB. This was during the "open to the community" volunteer events. "From the moment she came to volu...
Interacting with people and laughter are two of Krystle Whitley's favorite things. That makes her an excellent fit for her role at Midwest Food Bank, Pennsylvania. Krystle joined the staff in July as the resource and volunteer administrator. Before coming to MFB, she worked at the Salvation Army doing direct client services. "We are excited to...
Tender Mercies meals are designed by dieticians to be more than a rice and beans meal. There is nutrition in every bag. Every serving of Tender Mercies has: • The calcium of one glass of milk• The iron of two and a half cups of spinach.• The potassium of two bananas.• The protein of 3 ounces of fish. With such a nutritious product, MFB wondere...
Give a group of energetic teenagers some paint brushes, and before you know it, a project is done. That's what happened this summer when about 30 police officers and teens, ages 14-18, from the Mesa Youth Leadership Academy volunteered at Midwest Food Bank Arizona. The group painted the curbing, parking lines, and safety zones at MFB's parking...
After Scot Buss finished college in Minnesota, he got in his car and drove to Florida, even though he had never been there before. Now, 25 years later, he is still enjoying the sunshine and is using his sales background to assist Midwest Food Bank Florida. Scot has joined the Florida staff as the Marketing and Development Manager. "I'm ex...
Sometimes things go full circle. For Alisa Robb, it happened with Froot Loops. Alisa heard about Midwest Food Bank and volunteer opportunities through friends. So, when she retired after 30 years as an occupational therapy assistant she started volunteering at MFB Peoria doing packing projects. Often MFB receives food in bulk amounts and volu...
It's about the long haul for The Creek Church in Indianapolis. The pantry provides food assistance to people with long-term needs and connects them with other services like financial coaching, housing, addiction support, or other human services. Volunteers at The Creek also invest in building relationships by meeting with small grou...
"I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me." Matthew 25:35-36In Bridgeport, CT, people of all ages and circumstances have access to food...
While food insecurity is rapidly rising, the world is expected to waste 2.1 million tons of food annually by 2030, according to Yale research. In the United States alone, $408 billion was spent on food in 2021 that was never eaten. That's nearly a quarter of US food going to waste instead of to those who need it. On Tuesday, July 12, 2022, Mid...
Most people look forward to the weekend. Unless you are a child that doesn't know if there is another meal until returning to school on Monday. In the U.S., one in seven children is food insecure. The United States Department of Agriculture defines food insecurity as "the lack of consistent access to enough food for an active, healthy lifestyle." C...
When people think about donating to Midwest Food Bank, they often think of the three Cs: Cash, Check, Credit card. While these three are very common, there are many ways to make a contribution to MFB. We understand our donors appreciate the opportunity to give in a variety of ways. To make it easy for donors, MFB has assembled instructions and insi...
Midwest Food Bank Peoria became a giant classroom when 70 students learned about MFB and how we get food to local food pantries and people in need. The field trip was possible because of a civics action learning grant the health department received. "Visiting the food bank gave students a better understanding of the supply chain for local food...
A bag of groceries, the spirit of prayer, and grace are how volunteers serve the people that come to the food pantry at Grace United Methodist Church in Pekin. Once a month the church opens its gym and guests walk through and fill one or two bags with food, including frozen food items. Anywhere from 50-100 families come to this pantry event. One of...
MFB Haiti is beginning a Tender Mercies packaging program that will use locally-sourced products. Working in partnership with Overture International, a nonprofit organization focused on sustainable development in Haiti, this project will also create jobs for local community members. Beginning this month, MFB Haiti will provide seasoning, ...
To serve nonprofit partners in Central Florida, Midwest Food Bank Florida recently held a remote distribution there. On May 5, volunteers gathered in Lakeland, FL, to fill the vehicles of area partner agencies with food. Ken White, MFB Florida Community Relations Manager, worked with Lakes Church to secure their location as a distri...
There are 19 different countries in East Africa and the statistics tell a story of the continued struggle with malnutrition and food insecurity. Over 22 million people living in East Africa are affected by food insecurity. The World Food Programme reports that in Kenya alone, 35.6% of people live on less than $1.90 per day. Records also show t...
Joseph is Executive Director of Clinical Operations at Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Texas and will celebrate 15 years at BCBSTX in May. He's a Licensed Clinical Social Worker and Certified Case Manager, and has spent the past 15 years in the Care Management Clinical Operations area. Joseph is a triplet (all 3 boys), and has two older si...
