North Carolina Food Bank Receives Stimulus Commodities

During July, August and September, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina will receive approximately 14,500 cases of USDA food purchased with TEFAP American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 (ARRA) funding, with a total value of $539,000. The commodities include cheese, whole chicken, canned peaches, and deli turkey.

“It’s very timely, and our partners are really excited about the availability of these commodities,” said Peter Werbicki, President/CEO of the food bank.

Established in 1980, the Food Bank of Central and Eastern North Carolina is a non-profit organization that provides food to people at risk of hunger in 34 counties in central and eastern North Carolina. In 2007-08, the food bank distributed over 31.6 million pounds of food through 870 partner agencies including soup kitchens, food pantries, shelters, and after school programs for children. Nearly 30 percent of the people served by the food bank’s network are children and another 18 percent are elderly. Thirty-eight percent of the families served are the “working poor.”

Today, the food bank provides more than 2.7 million pounds of food every month to nearly 900 nonprofit, community-based, emergency feeding programs (soup kitchens, food pantries, homeless shelters, and elderly nutrition programs), serving more than 400,000 individuals at risk of hunger in 34 central and eastern North Carolina counties. The agencies are served out of a primary facility in Raleigh and branch warehouses in Southern Pines, Durham, Greenville and Wilmington.

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