I asked our Warehouse Manager, Tim Hall, to give me a little more insight into how our Food distribution works, and I thought I would share with you all.
Donations: We receive food from individual donations dropped off at the warehouse, as well as from companies like Conagra, Bush Brothers, and Target. We also collected an overwhelming 200+ barrels of food at Zoo Knoxville in November during their drive for us.
Purchases: To fill in variety and volume, we buy food from Food City. If we are doing an Outreach Event, we always first try to buy the groceries at local businesses to support their economy but given the size of the places we serve, that isn\’t always possible. In that case, we purchase food from UGO in Halls.
Distribution: Tim and our warehouse workers create 1000-1200 lb food pallets (beans, mac and cheese, rice, vegetables, fruit, peanut butter, pasta, oatmeal, meat meals, etc) and include 1-2 of these pallets on each Mountain Ministry Center delivery we make. In addition, we give away 250-400 grocery bags of food at each Outreach Event. We also send food bags during Christmas and Back To School deliveries to our 28 Elementary Schools.
Funding: Your donation to MOH (www.missionofhope.org/donate) enables us to get food to the Ministry Centers in Rural Appalachia where it can be distributed to people in need. We also need funds to buy the grocery bags we fill at events.
Thank you to all who help us with this Mission!