Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina

Food Bank Helps Tornado Victims in Eastern NC
POSTED: 8:42 pm EDT April 25, 2011
UPDATED: 9:10 pm EDT April 25, 2011
SOURCE: http://www.wcti12.com/news/27667946/detail.html
(ABC Channel 12)

The tornadoes on Saturday, April 16 have put the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina in the dual role of continuing its day to day hunger relief operations to 34 counties and assisting agencies affected by the natural disaster. The Food Bank is sending additional resources to the agencies affected by the powerful tornadoes; have extended hours for these organizations to access their warehouses for additional items and is making special deliveries directly to agencies affected. The list of disaster relief support continued this weekend as the Food Bank dispatched a truck from its Raleigh warehouse directly to one of their partner agencies, Good News Outreach, 3208 Oaks Road in New Bern. Good News Outreach reported a significant increase in service since the disaster, particularly in the Catfish Lake area. The Food Bank truck is loaded with four pallets of water, four pallets of snacks and two pallets of disaster relief boxes, totaling 13,000 pounds of food and relief items to the agency. In the past few days, great community support and donations from other areas of the country have allowed the Food Bank to provide the following for hard-hit agencies in Craven, Wake, Johnston, Lee, Harnett, Greene and Onslow counties: · 32 pallets of snacks, water, produce and frozen meat to Wake County agencies and American Red Cross facility in Johnston County– totaling more than 26,500 pounds · 20 pallets of produce, orange juice, water and canned goods to Lee County agencies – totaling 16,519 pounds · 10 pallets of produce, orange juice, water, dairy and bread from Greenville Branch to Greene County agencies – totaling 9,962 pounds · 10 pallets of produce, water and snacks to an agency in Harnett County – totaling 11,000 pounds · 10 pallets of water, snacks and relief boxes to an agency in New Bern County – totaling 13,000 lbs · Two deliveries from Greenville Branch to agencies in Onslow County – totaling 9,240 pounds · The American Red Cross in Greenville is storing 22 pallets of product in the Food Bank’s Greenville warehouse.

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FROM THE SITE 4/11:

FOOD BANK ASSESSES NEED, RESPONDS TO TORNADO

Tornado Relief 2011Every day, The Food Bank of Central & Eastern North Carolina responds to a crisis in its service area - hunger. The Food Bank serves as a conduit for accepting, sorting, packaging, storing, and distributing food and non-food essentials to more than 500,000 people at risk of hunger daily in its 34-county service area. As a first responder during times of a natural disaster, the Food Bank also reacts immediately to serve victims of tornadoes, hurricanes and floods throughout the southeast without disrupting regular food distribution in North Carolina.

Following the tornadoes hitting North Carolina on April 16, the Food Bank assessed its partner agencies (food pantries, rescue missions, soup kitchens, senior and child nutrition programs) in counties affected by the storm to determine how their distribution capabilities fared. The Food Bank has been in communication with the American Red Cross and North Carolina Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (NCVOAD). The organization has reached out to assist sister food banks in Elizabeth City, which serves Bertie County and in Fayetteville, which serves a portion of the Sandhills along with the Food Bank branch there. As a result of the initial assessment, Food Bank agencies in Wake, Lee, and Greene counties were hardest hit. The organization is sending additional resources to the agencies affected by the powerful tornadoes on Saturday, April 16; have extended hours for these organizations to shop for additional items and is making special deliveries directly to agencies affected.

Wake County saw unprecedented devastation due to Saturday’s storm and many Wake County agencies served out of the Food Bank’s main warehouse on Tarheel Drive in Raleigh have a high anticipation of increased need and are already supporting large numbers of individuals and families who are without power. Some of the agencies themselves are without power but still operating and still distributing to those who need assistance, even taking to the streets, supporting a trailer park community by distributing flyers to families with information of additional hours of distribution today.

Lee County, one of the hardest hit areas in North Carolina by Saturday’s powerful storm, is served out of the Food Bank’s Sandhills Branch. With one of the agencies serving as a designated day shelter for kids as a result of the storm, additional food donations will help meet the increased demands on their services.

In the Food Bank’s Greenville Branch service area, one Greene County agency hit by the tornado also has an increased need for emergency food and non-food items.

During the week following the disaster, the Food Bank distributed more than 86,000 pounds of food to the relief effort. Great community support and donations from other areas of the country have allowed the Food Bank to provide the following for hard-hit agencies in Wake, Johnston, Lee, Harnett, Greene and Onslow counties:

* 39 pallets of snacks, water, produce and frozen meat to Wake County agencies and American Red Cross facility in Johnston County totaling more than 26,500 pounds
* 20 pallets of produce, orange juice, water and canned goods to Lee County agencies totaling 16,519 pounds
* 10 pallets of produce, orange juice, water, dairy and bread from Greenville Branch to Greene County agencies totaling 9,962 pounds
* 10 pallets of produce, water and snacks to an agency in Harnett County totaling 11,000 pounds
* 10 pallets of water, snacks and relief boxes to an agency in New Bern County totaling 13,000 lbs
* Two deliveries from Greenville Branch to agencies in Onslow County totaling 9,240 pounds
* The American Red Cross in Greenville is storing 22 pallets of product in the Food Bank’s Greenville warehouse.

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HOW YOU CAN HELP: FOOD DRIVES

Hosting a food drive at your business, school, neighborhood or faith-based organization will help us in our efforts to provide disaster relief to those most in need. Click on the links below to find out what you need to know about managing a food drive.

For more information, contact our Food Drive Coordinator.

FOOD DONATIONS:

Individual donations of food and non-food essentials are extremely helpful and critical to the overall relief effort. All donated items should be delivered to the Food Bank location nearest you.

The Food Bank cannot accept prepared meals for evacuees relocated to shelters in North Carolina. If you are interested in providing hot meals for these individuals contact Wake County Human Services at 919.212.9595.

Please keep the following suggestions in mind as you collect needed items to donate:

. Only use boxes that hold up to 50 lbs. in which to collect your items to be donated so that they may be easily lifted.
. Barrels do not make good collection containers, as they can weigh up to 800 pounds. . Relief organizations have found that it is often most practical to focus on one or two items that an organization says is needed rather than collect a variety of items and have boxes filled with mixed goods - please consider donating items in bulk.
. If possible, please consider donating cases of a particular food or non-food item. Cases are usually easier to sort, pack, and distribute than individual units. (For example: a case of peanut butter is easier to handle than individual jars of peanut butter). Pooling resources and focusing on single item donations are good ways to manage the higher costs of purchasing items by the case.
. Encourage food drives and food collections that focus on a specific type of item: Peanut Butter Drive, Cleaning Supplies Drive, Nutritional Snack Food Drive, etc.
. If holding a Baby Items Drive: please collect diapers, infant cereal, and formula. Please donate these items by the case, as loose glass or plastic jars of baby food will have to be discarded due to health regulations.
. Pre-sort foods into categories prior to delivery to Food Bank.
. Please DO NOT put cleaning supplies in the same box as food items.
. The Food Bank cannot accept clothing. Used clothing is rarely a useful item to collect for disaster relief as it is hard to clean, sort, pack, transport, store and distribute, and mounds of clothing take up valuable warehouse space. Donated used clothing frequently ends up being discarded.

To find a Food Bank drop-off location in your area, please click HERE.

For more information, contact our Food Drive Coordinator at: FoodDrive @foodbankcenc.org

CURRENT VOLUNTEER NEEDS:

The best way to volunteer for the Food Bank to help with the disaster relief effort is to host a food drive and deliver the collected items to the Food Bank location nearest you.
. If you have a truck or SUV and are willing to make local pickups and deliveries in your area, you can sign up to be an on-call volunteer driver. On-call drivers are required to go through an application process and driving record check. To sign up to be a volunteer driver, contact the volunteer coordinator in the Food Bank location nearest you.
. Tractor trailers are in great demand in disaster relief efforts. If you have a tractor trailer that can be scheduled to be used to help in the Food Bank's relief efforts, please contact Anna Davenport, Food Resources Manager for the Food Bank: adavenport@foodbankcenc.org
. Greenville Branch - Volunteers are needed to sort food drive items destined for the victims in the affected areas. The Food Bank is open Monday through Friday 8am - 4pm, Wednesday 6pm - 8pm, and Saturday 9am - 1pm, and other times as needed. Please contact the Greenville Volunteer Coordinator via email or call at 252.752.4996.
. Raleigh Branch - Volunteers are needed to sort food drive items destined for the victims in the

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Operates 5 sites, all of which are fully equipped with
refrigeration and freezing. In post-disater mode will
accept toiletries as well as food items (no clothing,
furniture, please).

All donations should be coordinated through Peter Reubwervicki
at Raleigh HQ.

Andrew Hafner in Raliegh also coordinates pet supply donations.

Member of America's Second Harvest, which coordinates donations
to its members in disaster.