Midwest Food Bank is responding to the war in Ukraine by working with a global charitable food distributor to ship nutritious shelf-stable meals to the war-torn region.
The Normal, Ill.-based food bank is sending nearly a quarter of a million meals to the area through a partnership with Convoy of Hope, a U.S.-based organization that provides food and disaster relief via a global network.
Midwest’s response is in keeping with its long reach. The independent food bank, which is the country’s second-largest (by revenue), is unusual for having operations in ten locations across the country, as well as in East Africa and Haiti. Most U.S. food banks, in contrast, keep their operations highly local, focusing on nearby counties.
The current partnership with Convoy of Hope is part of a “longstanding positive relationship,” said Jada Hoerr, Chief Resource Officer at Midwest. “We have shared truckloads of surplus food for years,” she noted. “Now, the local community is eager to support the people of Ukraine and we are blessed to be able to offer this service.”
The relief from Midwest comes in the form of its Tender Mercies food packets, which include fortified, seasoned rice and beans that can be consumed individually or used as a base for recipes. The packets, which need to be boiled with water for 20 minutes, are an essential part of Midwest’s overall international efforts.
For its Ukraine outreach, Midwest donated the Tender Mercies to Convoy of Hope, which in turn is managing the distribution. A Convoy of Hope truck arrived at a Midwest warehouse in Morton, Ill., last week to take 240,000 servings of Tender Mercies to its operations in Springfield, Mo., to prepare the food for shipment.
In response to the Russian-Ukrainian conflict, Convoy of Hope has secured a 35,000-square-foot warehouse in Poland, near the Ukraine border. From the warehouse, the Tender Mercies packets are being shipped to Romania to aid incoming Ukrainian refugees.
Convoy of Hope has partnered with the logistics non-profit Airlink, which is also working with Virgin Atlantic, to fly pallets to Poland. Supplies are then shipped to the warehouse and immediately sent to locations where the need is the greatest.
“This warehouse is serving as our headquarters for our refugee response,” said Ethan Forhelz, Vice President of Public Engagement at Convoy of Hope. “We are getting food and other essential, life-sustaining items by purchasing them in Poland and other countries near Ukraine.”
Convoy of Hope partners with numerous food banks in the United States, Forhelz said. It supplies pantries with food and also holds community events and rural initiatives around the country, in which it gives away groceries, socks, shoes and more. In 2021, the organization responded to 64 disasters – 22 in the U.S. and 42 internationally.
Because Ukraine and Russia account for approximately one-third of all global grain exports, Convoy of Hope is preparing for potential hunger crises. According to Convoy of Hope, the United Nations estimates that the number of undernourished people could increase by 8 million to 13 million globally within the next year.
“Convoy of Hope is incredibly blessed by the partnership and generosity of Midwest Food Bank,” Forhelz said. “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. We can’t overstate the importance of nutritious meals during this tumultuous time and Midwest Food Bank is helping us deliver thousands upon thousands of them.” – Maura Keller
Maura Keller is a Minneapolis-based freelance writer and editor.
CAPTION ABOVE: Convoy of Hope picked up 240,000 food packets from Midwest Food Bank’s Morton, Ill. location for shipment to Ukrainian refugees.
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