Midwest Food Bank is pleased to announce the hire of Nate Westerfield as our new IT Director. He began at MFB on September 7 and will work part-time through October. Beginning November 1, he will transition to full-time and be located in Morton, IL division. Nate brings more than 20 years of IT experience to MFB. Most recently, Nate has served as t...

Midwest Food Bank has been actively responding to disasters in 2021. Hurricanes Henri and Ida are the latest opportunities MFB has had to support disaster victims in the US. Hurricane Ida formed on August 23, a notable date in hurricane history. Midwest Food Bank began offering Disaster Relief with Hurricane Katrina, which formed on the same date i...

Midwest Food Bank values our donors, and we make effective use of every gift with integrity. We frequently receive questions about various ways to give to MFB, and one mechanism – IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution - is a way that benefits donors and MFB. Making an IRA Qualified Charitable Distribution (QCD) You can donate up to $100,000 in...

Despite political chaos and the continuing deterioration of security, God is still working through MFB Haiti. We have delivered three sea containers (700,000 servings) of food to Haiti in 2021.  The Lord is now opening doors that will allow us to expand child feeding centers in the Pignon area. MFB Haiti partners with Mathew 28 Ministries...

Midwest Food Bank values our donors and we steward every gift with integrity. We frequently receive questions about various ways to give to MFB and one mechanism - Donor-Advised Funds - is a way donors have partnered with MFB to achieve their giving goals and benefit our mission. A Donor-Advised Fund (DAF) is a type of giving program that allows yo...

Young and old, child and adult, we all love celebrating a birthday! At Midwest Food Bank, we enjoy celebrating with you. Here are 5 ways we equip you to celebrate your own birthday or someone else's: 1. Tribute Gift: When you donate online, you can make your gift a tribute to celebrate a birthday. Midwest Food Bank will send a card to the person yo...

Midwest Food Bank has again received a coveted four-star rating from Charity Navigator, the nation's top charity evaluator. MFB has received this recognition every year since 2011. Only 4% of charities are given a four-star rating for nine consecutive years. The rating is based on MFB's demonstration of robust financial health a...

The passion of the Midwest Food Bank employees and volunteers is contagious. Just ask Jan Murphy, a Midwest Food Bank Share Partner (a donor offering a regularly scheduled contribution). She is the former Vice President of Academic Affairs and Provost at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. In 2018, ISU President, Larry Dietz, encour...

Silvanie's mother lived in a tiny village on the bank of the Bouyaha River when she gave birth in September of 2002. Because healthcare is rare and unaffordable; a few days later Silvanie's mother died of complications.  Her grandmother tried desperately to keep Silvanie alive, but with no milk to give an infant she knew it was impossible. At ...

Coming from a Christian, middle-class family with a brother and four sisters, Luken Ermilus decided to go to medical school. His story sounds kind of standard, but God can use one decision to change a trajectory. That's what happened with Luken when he decided to use his medical training to help people in his own country of Haiti. He visited Cite S...

God spoke to a man in Texas and a man in Haiti, and together they are answering the call to help people in the largest slum in Haiti. This partnership happens through the Luken Foundation - named after the young Haitian man, Luken Ermilus (learn more here). Midwest Food Bank is thankful to play a part in this ministry, but first, we need to te...

At Midwest Food Bank, Share Partners make a continual positive impact. They donate a set amount on a regular schedule - weekly, monthly, or quarterly. If you think our Share Partners are all wealthy retirees giving huge amounts, we'd like to introduce you to Allysha. Allysha Nordyke lives in Los Angeles, CA, and works for the government. She i...

While the impact of the Coronavirus Relief bill of March 2020 had far-reaching effects, there is a lesser-known benefit in the bill. It's a benefit that helps charitable givers AND charities $300 Charitable Giving Deduction Taxpayers who don't itemize their deductions (that's most of us) can take advantage of a special $300 tax deduction. In t...

As COVID grinds on and brings growing anxiousness and hardship to much of the world, MFB Haiti is thankful to report that year-over-year our sea-container shipments of food to Haiti have doubled. In 2020, over 160 tons of food relief have been shipped, received, and distributed by our Haiti faith-based partners. Nearly three-quarters of the shipmen...

Today, October 16, is World Food Day. It's an internationally recognized day in honor of the founding of the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations in 1945. It's celebrated by organizations concerned with food insecurity. World Food Day meshes well with of mission of alleviating hunger. This year's theme, "Grow, Nourish, Sustain. T...

Every industry has a "language" and food banks are no different. At Midwest Food Bank we use words like "hunger" and "food insecurity" on a regular basis. But, what do those words really mean? Hunger – This is a physical condition that is caused by a lack of food. Food Insecurity – The USDA defines this as the "lack of consistent access to enough f...

Before Hurricane Laura made landfall in Louisiana, it had already proved to be deadly in Haiti. Laura tore through Haiti on August 23, killing at least 21 people, and knocking out power to hundreds of thousands of people. Many local farmers' crops were destroyed, crippling an already fragile food supply. A Jacmel plantain plantation planning a...

In these troubling times, driven largely by COVID-19, Midwest Food Bank Haiti is humbled by and grateful for our Haitian partners. They deliver MFB's Tender Mercies meals to the vulnerable and malnourished at the margins of Haiti society. Through July of this year our partners have delivered nearly 1.1 million Tender Mercies meals throughout H...

It's that time of year again. Articles with titles like "Top ten gifts for Dad" show up. They appear for a reason. It can be difficult finding a meaningful gift for a parent. Forgive us for adding one more suggestion to the mix. Some truly unique and purposeful time spent with Dad would be a gift to both the giver and recipient. What dad wouldn't a...

 Midwest Food Bank Haiti believes partnerships are beneficial to share the Gospel and feed people in Haiti. While feeding people - physically and spiritually is the mission of MFB - many of our partners have other components to their ministry like medical care, education, job training, shelter and basic needs like clothing. By walking alongsid...