Second Harvest Foodbank of Clark, Champaign & Logan Counties (SHFB) will be able to provide more food and supplies to those in need as the $5,000 winner of Westfield Insurance Foundation’s #SolveIt award. The award celebrates the efforts of businesses, insurance agents, food pantries, hot meal sites and food delivery programs that are helping their local communities overcome challenges and eliminate hunger.
Wallace & Turner nominated SHFB for the organization’s extraordinary response in addressing community needs throughout the pandemic. The threat of COVID-19 changed many aspects of society, but not the mission of the food bank. The main goal is to make sure that no one is going hungry, and SHFB identified different avenues and resources to reach people in various ways.
SHFB served nearly a year’s worth of customers from January through May 2020 alone, as nearly 12,000 households representing nearly 35,000 people sought SHFB’s services either directly or through one of its partners. That was an increase of 66 percent over the same period a year ago, and nearly 20,000 of the people served, had never used the food bank before, an increase of 132 percent.
Additionally, with the help of local schools and community organizations, SHFB provided children from ages 1 to 18 with free healthy meals throughout the summer. Each child received five breakfast and five lunch meals per week. In total, the facility served over 20,000 meals to children per week.
About Westfield and Feeding America’s Partnership
As the pandemic continues, Feeding America® projects it will need an additional $1.8 billion to feed Americans who are newly food insecure. In fact, 40 percent of the people in need today have never needed help before. Because of the exponential need, Westfield increased its annual giving by $500,000 to partner with Feeding America. Together, they will support communities across the country to create solutions that help their neighbors put food on the table.