July 6, 2009

Who gets the 160 bowls of food?

In a recent post about our Plate It Forward helping feed hungry people, Robert asked, "Who actually gets the food?"
Good question.

Feeding America supports food shelves and distribution centers throughout the USA. In my town, they support the Marion-Polk Foodshare, which is our county's food shelf. So the food provided through this program goes to people being helped by these kinds of local food programs.

I bet if you asked your local food shelf if they are affiliated with FeedingAmerica.org, the answer would most likely be "yes."

When I initially set this up,
I wanted to find a charity that did two things: I wanted one that didn't waste a lot of contributed funds for administrative costs, and it had to help people across the entire USA, not just in my community. Feeding America fit the bill.

Next, I toured our Marion-Polk Foodshare and saw a huge warehouse of food provided by various places.

Quoted from the Marion-Polk website,




Marion Polk Food Share is part of a statewide food banking system of 20 regional affiliates of Oregon Food Bank, a member of Feeding America national food bank network (formerly Second Harvest).

Through this network, Marion-Polk Food Share receives portions of large, national corporate donations
and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) surplus commodities. These foods supplement what Food Share collects locally from individuals, corporations and community groups who donate food and support food drives.



I hope that helps to explain where the money goes and where the food ends up.

This year the need is greater than ever before, so if you have a Pass It On Plate --
Pass It On!





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