The devastation that befell MANNA FoodBank, whose Asheville, N.C.-based headquarters and warehouse were completely destroyed during Hurricane Helene, unfolded slowly at first, and then suddenly. As the storm was actively raging during the morning of Friday, Sept. 27, CEO Claire Neal was “obsessively” checking an app that tracked river levels.…
Posts published in “Logistics”
Manna Food Center’s paper-based system for helping people purchase food at local markets is not very sophisticated, but gets points for innovation. Since the pandemic, Silver Spring, Md.-based Manna has been distributing paper vouchers to hundreds of people monthly, who can use them to purchase culturally relevant food at small…
There’s no doubt most food banks are spending more money to purchase food these days, though there are a handful outliers that spend virtually nothing on food. During Covid, almost all food banks began purchasing more food when donated goods were tough to come by, and government funding and donated…
Most food banks are aware that the pantries in their networks are not always available in the most convenient places at the most convenient times for clients. One way Mid-Ohio Food Collective is addressing this issue is by opening a set of Amazon-style food lockers at one of its distribution…
At a time when many food banks were scrambling to add extra warehouse space to meet the demands of the pandemic, Food Lifeline in Seattle found itself with an unexpected gift: lots and lots of extra warehouse space. A tenant had moved out, leaving behind 80,000 square feet of space…
Before the pandemic, Laguna Food Pantry in Calif., distributed food through a “charming” grocery-store-style pantry where clients could pick and choose the food they wanted, said Executive Director Anne Belyea. Then the pandemic hit, and it adopted the approach of many pantries in switching to a drive-through distribution with pre-packaged…
A new and dignified way to access food is debuting at Texas schools, under a pilot program being run by Houston Food Bank. The food bank is working to install refrigerated food lockers at local schools, where people will be able to pick up food they’ve ordered online through Feeding…
After months of making do with far fewer volunteer resources during the pandemic, hunger relief organizations are getting creative as they work to reinvigorate their volunteer ranks. Some are finding value in relying on clients as volunteers. Others are finding ways to engage highly skilled workers for special projects. And…
For some, innovation means thinking outside the box. For South Carolina’s Lowcountry Food Bank, innovation has meant putting the box outside. Lowcountry installed an outdoor refrigerated shipping container (known as a “Conex,” short for Container Express) at each of three partner agency locations. The 10×20-foot outdoor units, which were installed…