Food Bank Of Northern Indiana South Bend
Since 1993, the Food Bank of Northern Indiana has worked in partnership with the community to feed the hungry, increase awareness of the effects of hungry and lead programs designed to alleviate hunger. In northern Indiana, 18.4% of the population is hunger insecure.
The Food Bank of Northern Indiana is a distribution facility for millions of pounds of food and other products. Partnering with local and national manufacturers, wholesalers and retailers, food growers and packers, food brokers, and food drives conducted by individuals, businesses and organizations to glean food food that may have been damaged during packaging, is near its expiration date, an abundance during harvest or collected from ones own cupboards the Food Bank of Northern Indiana distributes these items to its 185 member agencies who distribute these items to their clients.
The Food Bank of Northern Indiana serves six counties Elkhart, Kosciusko, LaPorte, Marshall, Starke and St. Joseph Counties. In its first year of operation, the Food Bank distributed 6,800 pounds of food to 29 agencies. In 2010, the Food Bank of Northern Indiana distributed a record five million pounds of food and served nearly one-quarter million people. Our vision is to improve the health and quality of life in northern Indiana through a reduction of those with hunger insecurity in northern Indiana.
Food Bank of Northern Indiana702 S. Chapin Streetwww.feedindiana.org
How To Donate To A Food Bank
With the pandemic and the cost of living crisis, food banks are being relied upon more than ever before. If you’re wondering how to help, here’s everything you need to know about food bank donations.
Food banks work with support from the public, who donate non-perishable food at a range of places such as schools, churches, and local businesses, as well as supermarket collection points. Then volunteers sort the produce into emergency food parcels to give to people in need. A large majority of food banks also provide extra services alongside the emergency food parcels, such as toiletries, sanitary products, and baby basics.
According to recent stats published by The Trussel Trust , 95% of people referred to food banks in early 2020 were unable to afford to eat or stay warm and dry. As well as 18% of households referred to food banks were single parents – more than twice the rate in the general population. Trussel Trust added “We know that extremely low income is a key factor driving people to food banks.” Therefore donating to a food bank is needed now more than ever.
Transforming Lives Through The Power Of Food
Since 1998, Second Helpings has accepted donated perishable and overstocked food to prepare nutritious meals for thousands of hungry children and adults every day, and distributes them free of charge through local social service agencies in Greater Indianapolis. Second Helpings also trains unemployed and underemployed adults for meaningful careers in the culinary industry.
Were a community kitchen. We dont just collect food we rescue food because we refuse to waste when others have none. Were not just teaching people to cook were providing an avenue for people to transform their own lives. Today, the need is so much greater than we ever imagined when we began so well go on undeterred. Will you join us?
BECOME A PARTNER AGENCY
Are you a Central Indiana nonprofit interested in receiving free meals from Second Helpings? Please check out our Become a Partner Agency page to better understand our relationships with partner agencies, and learn more about how we can work together to build a stronger, more healthy community.
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How To Drop Off Your Food Donations
Make sure you know the business hours before you go, and give them a call to confirm your visit .
It would be best not to stuff your automobile to the gills with food. Avoid making repeated journeys by bringing a buddy or two along to help carry some of the weight. Please check the foods condition before donating it.
Please let the food bank know you are dropping off a contribution by checking in at the front desk when you arrive. Dont just drop off your food contributions to the food bank hang around and get a feel for what theyre all about. There is a possibility that you may acquire knowledge about local food insecurity and hunger. Ask if there is any way you may contribute as a virtual volunteer if you are unable to help out at the food bank physically.
Your contribution will now be sorted and stored until the community needs it. If you want to make the most of your time at the food bank, recruiting some assistance from your pals is a great plan. Its a terrific way to get some exercise when you dont have much time. Finally, remember to enjoy yourself throughout your time of service. You can change someones life while contributing to a worthy cause. It is a win-win scenario for everyone involved.
Food Bank Of Northwest Indiana Inc Merrillville
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana was founded in 1982. It was originally a barn, but has grown into a facility that acquires, stores and distributes 4.7 million pounds of food throughout Lake and Porter Counties. It is a USDA approved, primary distributor of food to local pantries, shelters, day care centers, and soup kitchens. The Food Bank is an affiliate of Feeding America, the nations largest food bank network. For more than three decades, the Food Bank has served as a link for food relief to families, the elderly, children and other individuals.
But, the vision of the Food Bank expands beyond providing assistance for this basic need to include a number of initiatives. We are developing space for community resource services such as nutrition education, job training, WIC and SNAP programming. We also are increasing the total amount and nutritional value of food and grocery products distributed each year.
The Food Bank is training and equipping community agencies to engage in aggressive referral programs that will link individuals to support services that will address underlying causes of hunger such as unemployment, underemployment, lack of education and transportation. We provide and promote programs and services that will help educate and empower individuals to make healthy eating choices for themselves and their families.
Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, Inc.6490 Broadway, Merrillvillewww.foodbanknwi.org
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How Do I Donate To A Local Food Bank
The donation process will vary from food bank to food bank. To find your local food bank, Villarreal advises visiting FeedingAmerica.org and entering your zip code into the food bank locator. From there, she recommends connecting with that local food bank. Typically, theyâll have a most-needed list of items of things you can donate.
Financial donations are also welcome at most food banks as are volunteers. âVolunteerism is a huge need at all food banks,â Guerra says. âAnd the donation of the dollar goes a long way also. In fact, with the increase of fuel, most food banks need the dollar more than ever to keep food flowing into and across their local service region.â
Other local meal programs such as Meals on Wheels also rely on volunteers to deliver and prepare meals. âFor many recipients, the trusted Meals on Wheels volunteer who shows up every day with a meal and a smile is the only person they see or speak with all day,â says Jenny Young, the vice president of communications for Meals on Wheels America.
And if youâre not in a position to donate food, money, or time, Davis says helping spread the word about available resources for families in need is one of the easiest ways to support. âNo Kid Hungry has a texting line to help,â she says. âFamilies can text âFOODâ or âCOMIDAâ to 304-304 to find community meal sites for their kids.â
Foodus Food Banks Struggle To Feed Hungry Amid Surging Prices
In many ways, the little pantries expand the social contacts for people in the community, she explained. If you are feeding people, you know who is in need, and that means you can use your own social contacts to help people right there, without paperwork and bureaucracy.
Food insecurity is a lack of consistent access to enough food for every person within a home to live, and because many hungry households do not qualify for federal nutrition programs, they rely solely on local food banks for survival.
Feeding America, the nations largest hunger-relief organization with 200 food banks across the country, estimates that 42 million people in the United States, including 13 million children, will experience food insecurity this year.
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Can I Donate Toiletries To Food Bank
You can donate toiletries to most food banks but it’s worth checking on the local food bank website beforehand. The Trussell Trust recommends the following:
You can also donate household items, feminine hygiene products, and baby supplies too:
- Household items laundry liquid detergent, laundry powder, washing up liquid
- Feminine products sanitary towels and tampons
- Baby supplies nappies, baby wipes, and baby food
- Face masks and hand sanitiser
Support For The People Of Ukraine
The catastrophic war in Ukraine is forcing many men, women, and children into hunger. Hundreds of thousands of Ukrainians are traveling for days without food. Midwest Food Bank needs your help to provide food assistance for Ukraine families. MFB is partnering with other nonprofit organizations to donate our nutritious meals, Tender Mercies to the people of Ukraine. Convoy of Hope provided transportation for the first shipment of nearly 240,000 servings of Tender Mercies to the countries helping Ukrainian refugees. The cost to Midwest Food Bank to supply Tender Mercies for this effort is $60,000. Other MFB nonprofit partners have included: Childrens Hunger Fund, International Christian Enterprise, Inc.,Basic Life Support,Mount Church, and The Elpis Foundation in Romania. MFB is working with Convoy of Hope to ship another load in June.
An MFB board member from Texas utilized the strength of three other nonprofits combined with MFB to get a shipment of Tender Mercies to Romania. Those meals will be distributed in late May/early June. Story here.
Convoy of Hope is incredibly blessed by the partnership and generosity of Midwest Food Bank, says Ethan Forhetz, Convoy of Hope National Spokesman. Their shipment of Tender Mercies meals is headed to Romania where Convoy of Hope will distribute it to Ukrainian refugees fleeing the violence in their homeland.
Partner with us to support Ukrainians in need. Donations fund the production and distribution of Tender Mercies.
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The Food Pantries For The Capital District
As a coalition of more than 65 food pantries in Albany, Rensselaer, Saratoga, and Schenectady Counties we are here to help those in our community who need a hand. In these unprecedented times, The Food Pantries for the Capital District is working diligently to ensure that our local food pantries are prepared in the face of circumstances that are devastating to our most vulnerable community members. You can help!
On May 4th of this year, President Biden announced that the White House will host a Conference on Hunger, Nutrition, and Health this September. This is the first such conference held in over 50 years.
The goal of the Biden-Harris Administration is to end hunger, and to increase healthy eating and physical activity across the United States by 2030as well as decreasing diet-related diseases and their associated social disparities. The White House reached out to key stakeholders for input to inform the national plan on how to achieve this goal.
The Food Pantries Submission to the White House
Surplus Production And Dedicated Donations
Donating to the Food Banks of Quebec network is a reliable and secure way to dispose of surplus or to make a planned donation through dedicated production. In return, Food Banks of Quebec will:
- Respond promptly to offers of food donations
- Transport, handle, and store the merchandise in accordance with the rules of traceability, hygiene, and sanitation governing the food industry
- Distribute, free of charge, the products received to member organizations
- Administer food-sharing with efficiency, transparency and equity
- Issue, upon request, tax receipts
Food donations can include perishable, non-perishable, frozen items, and other products resulting from:
- Inventory surpluses
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Police And Fire Departments
Police officers and firefighters often carry stuffed animals and other small toys with them to comfort children at the scenes of traumatic events, and their supply of toys sometimes depends on donations. Reach out to your local police and fire departments to see if theyre accepting donations right now. For an easy way to donate toys to this cause, give your items to Stuffed Animals for Emergencies . This organization accepts gently used stuffed animals, blankets, books, childrens clothes and baby items, and finds organizations in the area that can use the donations for youngsters in emotional situations.
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What’s In A Typical Food Parcel
If you want to give food, you can drop it off at your local food bank, at a donation point in supermarkets across the country or by hosting a collection at your school, church or workplace.
If you’re donating food then you should focus on nutritional items with a long shelf life.
See the box above for a list of typical goods in an emergency food parcel.
Essential non-food items like toiletries and hygiene products are also needed.
The Trussel Trust also advises checking with your local food bank to see what supplies they currently need most.
Bankuet allows the food banks it represents to request items they need, it then using your donations to buy these items.
This means it can make sure that money is used in the best way to help each individual bank.
The Foodbank App also allows its bank members to flag the items they need most. This means that donators can make sure they buy the right things.
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What Food Items Can Be Donated
As a rule of thumb, Villarreal says food banks are looking for food pantry staples that most people have in their kitchens such as grains, pastas, canned beans, cereal, and peanut butter. Guerra adds that low-sodium canned vegetables, rice, and canned fruit are also needed.
There are some items that food banks generally donât take as donations such as homemade items, Guerra says. Villarreal advises not donating items in glass containers as they can shatter during transportation or anything thatâs opened, damaged, or unlabeled.
Keep the expiration dates in mind as well. âMany nonperishable items have a shelf life well beyond their sell-by date,â Guerra says. So, Villarreal recommends using your best judgment. If the item is near its expiration date it should be fine to donate, but if itâs well past the date itâs best to toss it.
Depending on the food bank, some also accept other items as donations. Think of things that youâd find at your local grocery store such as feminine hygiene products, toothpaste, soap, toilet paper, cleaning supplies, diapers, pet food, and other household items.
Food Connections Resource Center
Our Food Connections Resource Center is the first stop for many in our community seeking food assistance. In addition to providing you with an emergency food box, we are here to help you navigate and receive information about vital Redwood Empire Food Bank hunger relief programs and food distributions throughout Sonoma, Lake, Mendocino, Humboldt, and Del Norte Counties. Our team can also help you navigate the CalFresh application process, get WIC application assistance, and more.
3990 Brickway Blvd., Santa Rosa, CA 95403From Highway 101, take the Airport Blvd. exit.Desde la autopista 101, tome la salida Airport Blvd.
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Monday Friday
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Anyone Can Be A Food Donor
Anyone can donate food, including farmers, distributors, wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, cafeterias, hotels, cruise ships, and households, just to name a few.
- EPAs Excess Food Opportunities Map is an interactive tool that displays the locations of nearly 1.2 million potential industrial, commercial and institutional excess food generators and more than 4,000 potential recipients of excess food including anaerobic digestion facilities, composting facilities, and food banks.
- Gleaning is the collection of excess fresh foods from farms, gardens, farmers markets, and other sources to provide it to those in need. Typically, volunteers partner with a farm to glean excess fresh produce and deliver it to a food bank or food pantry. Learn how to develop a successful gleaning program with this USDA toolkit .
What Items Do Food Banks Need Most
Food banks mostly need long-life products that have extended use-by dates or non-perishables such as canned vegetables and fish, biscuits, and sugar for example.
Canned foods are often the first thing people think to donate. This is because when considering ‘how long does canned food last ?’, the answer is it has a long shelf life and can even be eaten beyond its expiration date if the can isn’t damaged in any way.
However, other store cupboard essentials like stock cubes, condiments and spices, and jarred sauces are also welcome.
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Places To Donate Food
There are food recipient organizations across the country. The following sites offer tools to help donors find nearby food banks, pantries, soup kitchens and shelters that may accept wholesome, excess food.
- Feeding America is a national network of food banks, individuals, national offices, and corporate and government partners working to combat hunger in the U.S. Use the Find Your Local Food Bank tool to locate food programs by state or zip code.
- Ample Harvest is a nationwide effort to educate, enable, and encourage gardeners to donate extra produce to local food pantries. Use their Find a Pantry tool to donate food you grow or buy.
- The Homeless Shelter Directory is a crowdsourced listing for people who want to find and donate food and/or supplies to their local shelter.
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