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...
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...
