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FeedMore WNY continues COVID-19 relief efforts with food distributions, home-delivered meals & deliveries to agencies

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Thu, Apr 16th 2020 08:50 pm

Nonprofit in need of food, monetary donations to meet unprecedented demand for assistance

FeedMore WNY continues to experience a high volume of people who are turning to the organization for food assistance as it reaches the one-month mark of its COVID-19 relief efforts. In order to meet the unprecedented levels of need, FeedMore WNY has been making larger and more frequent deliveries of food to its partner agencies, holding supplemental food distributions, deploying emergency food kits and bags of nutritious food for children into the community and onboarding new clients to its home-delivered meal program.

Throughout the past month, FeedMore WNY’s response has included the following:

•FeedMore WNY has provided 1.5 million pounds of food to its partner agencies, such as food pantries and soup kitchens, and through food distributions across its four-county service area. This is a 41% increase compared to what FeedMore WNY distributed this time last year.

•More than 1,140 new clients have been added to FeedMore WNY’s home-delivered meal program (also known as Meals on Wheels), with additional individuals joining the program each day. FeedMore WNY is now distributing more than 27,600 home-delivered meals each week – a 26% increase compared to its average weekly deliveries.

•In addition to its regularly scheduled mobile food pantry deliveries, FeedMore WNY is holding supplemental food distributions in underserved neighborhoods and in areas of the community where food pantries have had to close due to the coronavirus. FeedMore WNY has held 50 mobile food pantry deliveries and supplemental food distributions in the past month, serving approximately 17,000 individuals throughout Western New York.

•In addition to delivering meals to neighbors in need, FeedMore WNY’s dedicated volunteers have been tirelessly packing emergency food boxes and bags of nutritious food. Since the crisis began, FeedMore WNY has provided 11,750 emergency food boxes to hungry community members and 10,250 bags of nutritious food to children in need. In instances where individuals cannot attend a distribution or visit a partner agency, FeedMore WNY staff and volunteers are delivering the emergency food boxes and bags of food to their residences.

“There is an overwhelming need for food assistance in Western New York as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. We are experiencing calls for help from community members who have never relied on our services before. Those who are reaching out include individuals who lost their jobs due to the ongoing crisis, families with children who are no longer receiving school meals and homebound neighbors in dire need of support,” said Tara A. Ellis, president and CEO of FeedMore WNY. “We are grateful to our amazing community members who are helping support FeedMore WNY with food donations, monetary gifts or volunteer efforts. We also appreciate our dedicated network of partner agencies who are working in tandem with FeedMore WNY to serve our neighbors in need.”

FeedMore WNY continues to need more monetary donations and food donations to help meet the incredible demand for assistance. FeedMore WNY has almost completely exhausted its supply of donated food, and the large seasonal food drives that the organization has come to rely on through the years have been postponed or cancelled due to the coronavirus. Nonperishable donations of canned fruits and vegetables, as well as shelf-stable proteins including peanut butter, tuna fish and other canned meats and fish, especially are needed. Donations can be made from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Saturday at 91 Holt St., Buffalo. To find food assistance or to make a donation over the phone, individuals can call 716-822-2002 or 716-852-1305. More information also can be found online at www.feedmorewny.org.

FeedMore WNY offers dignity, hope and a brighter future by providing nutritious food, friendship and skills training to its Western New York neighbors in need. Through its food bank distribution center and partner hunger-relief agencies, as well as its home-delivered meal program and other targeted feeding programs, FeedMore WNY alleviates hunger and assists community members of all ages throughout Cattaraugus, Chautauqua, Erie and Niagara counties. More information can be found at www.feedmorewny.org.

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