Meet Tony Ferguson, the friendly neighborhood lawn care hero. Since 2012, Tony has been generously mowing the lawn of the Midwest Food Bank Morton every week, free of charge. It began when his friend, MFB Morton Board Member Billy Daniel, introduced him to the food bank's mission, emphasizing how the Lord works wonders through all the volunteers. T...

Midwest Food Bank continues to expand and provide more food to more people. One way that happens is through remote distributions coordinated with staff at an MFB site and volunteers in another region or state. This model means MFB doesn't have to have a permanent warehouse in every area and is a cost-effective way to fulfill our mission. This year,...

Pick up an empty box and bring it back full. This straightforward idea can provide thousands of meals to Arizona's needy families. Midwest Food Bank is organizing this Holiday Meal Kit program with an ambitious goal of 2,500 meal kits. The Navajo Nation will receive 500; the remainder will be given to MFB partnering agencies. "This is our third yea...

You could say that Duane Whitlow has a heart for Midwest Food Bank.In 2018, he first toured the Normal location of MFB and learned about the mission and work of MFB."I had the opportunity to visit with MFB founder David Kieser and learned firsthand how this great organization started and became what it is today," says Duane.It didn't take long befo...

Dollar for dollar - that's the way the Arizona tax credit works for donations made to Qualified Charitable Organizations (QCO). That means you receive $1 off taxes owed for every $1 donated to QCOs. Arizona is one of the few states that offers this incentive that benefits charitable organizations, like Midwest Food Bank, and taxpayers. This year, t...

For the first time in history, enough food is produced to feed everyone. Globally, farmers are growing over 22 billion pounds of produce every day, enough to provide every person on the planet almost twice, according to the Farm Link Project. It's not about having enough food; it's about getting the roughly 30-40% of the wasted US food supply into ...

While Haiti remains in a security, economic and humanitarian crisis, Midwest Food Bank's Haiti, through prayer and passion, continues to find ways to bring food to hungry and starving Haitians. A record 4.9 million people are projected to be in acute hunger in Haiti – nearly half the country, including 1.8 million people in an emergency state.We ar...

When you hear the name Opal Lee, especially in Texas, you pay attention. Opal has a way of making things happen through her humanitarian spirit and vision of making the world a better place for everyone.Opal is known as the grandmother of Juneteenth and her famous walk from Ft. Worth to Washington D.C. to campaign to make it a national holiday. At ...

Farm kids learn early on the value of food and how it is produced. That was the case for Gareth Keown."Growing up on a farm, I learned the importance of contributing to food security and now have been given the opportunity to make a significant impact in the lives of those that live daily in a food insecure state," says Gareth.In July, he joined th...

The volunteers who walk through the doors at Midwest Food Bank not only make our operations better, they leave an impression on everyone around them.With sadness, the New England location of MFB shares the news of the unexpected passing of Warren Zahner. Warren was one of the key people involved when MFB New England was established in 2021. He and ...

Midwest Food Bank New England wants to give our nonprofit agency partners the food their clients need and will use. A good example is when Schoke Jewish Family Service of Fairfield County started coming to MFB for food and household items. They specifically needed Kosher products."When we first approached MFB New England to discuss our particular n...

At Midwest Food Bank New England, we see answers to prayers. Those answers sometimes are the volunteers that show up at just the right time. John Carter is a great example."John came to us when we were praying to expand our forklift driver team, and he has served every week since," says Corey Barrette, Volunteer and Community Relations Manager for ...

After a varied career, including sales, publishing, logistics, and the mortgage industry, Steven Bishop has followed a calling from God into coaching and youth ministry. Now he is adding another meaningful career to his life. Steven is the new part-time Volunteer Coordinator at MFB Bloomington-Normal. Steven grew up in Bloomington and Nor...

If you come to Midwest Food Bank Bloomington-Normal, you will likely meet someone from Wesley United Methodist Church.They contribute to MFB in many ways - forklift drivers, first impression volunteers, SWAT Team (Sorting Wonderful Amazon Things), truck drivers, and leaders on food distribution days. Groups from the church also come to help with vo...

"Loyal loaders" are the people that show up regularly at Midwest Food Bank Bloomington/Normal during food distribution weeks. It's that loyalty that really makes the process smooth. Currently, MFB needs volunteers that can commit each month to become one of those "loyal loaders."What does that mean?Typically, distribution week is the first ful...

There are many moving parts, people, and equipment during food distribution days at the Midwest Food Bank Florida warehouse.MFB staff ensure that food is ready and that volunteers and staff are ready to safely accomplish the goal of meeting the needs of our food partners. MFB is committed to safety training so everyone is prepared for these busy wa...

When corporate groups volunteer at Midwest Food Bank Florida, there is an atmosphere of teamwork and collaboration. MFB staff always enjoy the liveliness of these groups. Usually, these events happen at the MFB warehouse, but it was more fitting to take the event to the group recently."MFB recently received a special request to organize a bulk-prod...

When volunteers from Crossover Community Center packed Cheez-It's at Midwest Food Bank Florida, it was a natural extension of their programs. CCC is a local nonprofit that uses the biblical principles of love and servanthood through active faith in Jesus Christ. They provide programs like volunteering, sports, and education to reach young people."T...

This year, a record number of disasters in the United States means Midwest Food Bank volunteers have been assembling food boxes to respond. In the first half of 2023, 20 loads of water, food boxes, hygiene kits and cleaning supplies were sent to support disaster victims.In June, semi-loads of water and food went from MFB's Disaster Relief...

Community partnerships offer great benefits to Midwest Food Bank and those we serve. MFB Morton recently received two separate grants that assist in day-to-day operations. The first was a $1,500 grant from the Morton Community Foundation. The mission of the Morton Community Foundation is to improve the quality of life for Morton area...