By WMBD-TV
BLOOMINGTON – The Midwest Food Bank is helping farmers in North Carolina impacted by Hurricane Helene.
About a month ago, a local Illinois farmer stopped by the organization and donated over 600 large round alfalfa hay bales. Now, the Midwest Food Bank is in the process of getting it to those who need it.
The Chief Executive Officer, Eric Holder, said these donations are important because the dairy and cattlemen in North Carolina had their hay washed away. And with winter and cold temperatures coming, farmers need to be able to feed their livestock.
“We’re also sending semi loads of food down to that region to help,” Holder said, “But in this case, we’re a little bit further up the supply chain. We’re providing food to the livestock, both cattle and dairy, to help those families stay in operation.”
Midwest Food Bank is looking for volunteers with trucking experience to help with this. If you are interested, call 309-663-5350. Holder says it’s a wonderful blessing that so many people have already come to together.
“We’ve dedicated two of our semis, but the support behind the scenes and the kind of the ripple effect of people helping is tremendous,” Holder said. “We don’t have step deck trailers. We had two farmers donate step tech trailers. We don’t have a skid steer to load hay. We had a farmer donate a skid steer.”
Holder said, they are already in the process of sending the hay bales and hope to finish by December 15th.
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