Feeding America is an integral partner of the Midwest program of Disaster Relief & Recovery. With support from Margaret A. Cargill Philanthropies, Feeding America provides disaster-related training and capacity building to local food banks that are part of its vast network across the region through their Building a More Resilient and Disaster-Ready Midwest programming. This multi-year program reinforces relationships and connections within the network prior to a disaster and positions local food banks to be able to continue their operations and be reliable community partners during disaster relief and community recovery.
After participating in the program training, a Feeding America affiliate in St. Louis, Missouri shared: “We felt that the connections we made with other food banks were invaluable during our disaster response. Organically, we were reaching out to each other when a disaster started to have impact in a regional community. As we jumped on calls and assessed the need, it was easy to work together. Within days food banks were sending necessary supplies and we were jumping in to help others with deliveries in areas close to jurisdictional lines. Personally, I learned a lot from the veteran food bankers and felt that others were there to support me and guide me through the process.”
