Feeding the Hungry Since 1982
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Feeding the Hungry Since 1982
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WHAT IS A FOOD BANK? Our primary service as a food bank is to collect usable donated foods and disburse to non-profit feeding organizations in a 33-county service area of the tri-state. Before the advent of food banking in 1979, twenty percent of all the food produced in America went to waste. 140 million tons of food is destroyed each year in this country, food valued at more than $31 billion. Most of this is edible food that can be used to feed hungry people. The food being rescued is edible food that often does not meet market standards. Examples of the types of food being destroyed are:
Often, food donations are so large that individual charities cannot safely store or handle the product. Also, the donation may be beyond the individual charity's current need. Food banks can store dry, frozen, or refrigerated product safely and in large quantities and then equitably disburse it to a variety of charitable organizations. The product is received from a variety of sources including Feeding America, formerly America's Second Harvest. After careful inspection the food goes to non-profit agencies such as food pantries, soup kitchens, areas experiencing a disaster such as tornado or flood, senior citizen nutrition sites, programs serving hot meals to senior citizens and invalids, neighborhood outreach programs, day care programs, supplemental and emergency relief programs and others, such as camps for handicapped or under-privileged children, rehabilitation programs, and children's homes.
HISTORY Established in 1982, a forward-thinking group of people chaired by Henry Campbell made connections with Gleaners Food Bank in Indianapolis and Dare To Care Food Bank in Louisville. With a borrowed pick-up truck, they began a simple operation serving seven nonprofit agencies in Evansville, IN. In 1983, the warehouse on Virginia Street was purchased and that year 150, 158 pounds of food was disbursed to a growing number of member agencies. Today we disburse over 4 million pounds of food each year to over 250 feeding organizations in 33 counties. A fourteen-member Board of Directors oversees this growing operation and vital charity.
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