By PHYLLIS COULTER
FarmWeek
With the help of a generous central Illinois farmer who wishes to remain anonymous, the Midwest Food Bank, known for serving local food pantries and disaster relief, is delivering feed for livestock in hurricane-ravaged areas for the first time.
“We had a very generous donation of alfalfa hay in round bales,” at a time when there is great need for feed in areas impacted by hurricanes Helene and Milton, said Eric Hodel, CEO of Midwest Food Bank (MFB) in Bloomington-Normal. “We are bridging the gap by providing trucking.”
Upon learning of the donation, MFB sought out who needed the hay most and how to get it there. The North Carolina Farm Bureau connected MFB with the North Carolina Cattleman’s Association, which got things rolling, Hodel said.
Each trip from central Illinois to the WNC Regional Livestock Center near Asheville, North Carolina, is about 700 miles each way. It will take about 30 loads.
As of November 14, five loads were delivered with four more set to leave by November 18.
Hodel, who also farms, is asking truck drivers and farmers with trucks, trailers or hay-moving equipment and those who can donate gas money to help by volunteering for the mammoth effort to transport about 600 round bales of hay.
“We want it all to be delivered by Christmas,” he said. Hodel is aiming for mid-December, when farmers will need the hay for their beef and dairy cattle.
One of those helping is Ron Farney of Bloomington, a longtime volunteer driver for MFB, who just got back from his first trip.
“They are really appreciative,” he said. One person told him, “You are saving farmers from bankruptcy.”
Farney picked up a load of 17 bales of hay from Eureka on November 10. He and his wife, Ellen, headed out at 4:30 a.m. on November 11 and returned home November 12 at 9:30 p.m. – mission accomplished.
“We saw some of the devastation and washouts,” Farney said.
When they got to within 40 miles of their destination on Interstate 40, the road was closed due to storm damage, and the Farneys had to backtrack, but they made it. Farney said they met a woman picking up a generator, hay, and fencing who sincerely thanked them.
“We are nimble at execution,” Hodel said. “It’s typical of Midwest people.”
Melanie Tennell, MFB’s marketing director, noted, “We’ve never done this before, but we’re figuring it out. This is an example of disaster relief taking an unexpected and impactful shape.”
It’s appropriate since the organization was started by a Bloomington farmer (David Kieser in 2003) to go full circle to help other farmers, Tennell said.
The hay is only part of MFB’s hurricane relief, as traditional giving also continues. Three more loads of family food boxes just left the Morton facility. By the end of the year, Hodel estimates Midwest Food Bank will deliver more than 40 loads of food and supplies for people and 30 loads of hay for livestock.
“We are glad to help out when we can,” Farney said. “I’d like to do it again.”
Hodel urges others to “join the caravan” to get the hay delivered before winter.
To help, call Midwest Food Bank at 309-663-5350.
This story was distributed through a cooperative project between Illinois Farm Bureau and the Illinois Press Association. For more food and farming news, visit FarmWeekNow.com.