Feeding America Food Banks Turn into Default Relief Centers for Hurricane Sandy

Food Banks up and down the East Coast are preparing for the worst. While they play a daily critical role in feeding millions of hungry Americans, during times of disaster they are often thrust into the role of first-responders. Their physical warehouses are centrally located and have the existing infrastructure to quickly convert into distribution centers for disaster relief. They provide direct service to their regular local hunger agencies and many more relief organizations mobilized by the disaster. The demand for their services becomes even greater as whole communities can become displaced or moved into temporary shelters during times of disaster. One might not often think of a food bank as being on the front lines of disaster relief, but without them, communities would suffer. These are no ad-hoc operations. Feeding America and the Food Banks run highly sophisticated supply-chains that network all the Feeding America Food Banks across the country, along with manufacturers and relief organizations, all with a little help from their friends at Aidmatrix. Their investment in technology enables them to tell instantly what they have in inventory, what is in route, and what they need to procure to scale up for the increased demands of an impending disaster like Hurricane Sandy. They participate in daily auctions for food donated by the country’s biggest manufacturers and hunger relief providers – all done in real-time, online on Aidmatrix SCM4Hunger™ platform. You might just be amazed at the operations that go on behind the scenes to secure the health and welfare of a community by a local Feeding America Food Bank.

For more information on Feeding America’s work, visit http://feedingamerica.org/press-room/press-releases/hurricane-sandy.aspx