Midwest Food Bank packaging food for families in need

PEACHTREE CITY, Ga. (FOX 5 Atlanta) - A metro Atlanta charity is looking for volunteers to help prepare 58,000 meals for the needy in north Georgia this weekend. It doesn't require cooking. These meals from the Midwest Food Bank are prepackaged for families to cook as they need them. It is something the charity has done elsewhere in the country but this is the first time in Georgia.

"Midwest Food Bank is a faith-based, non-denominational, non-profit food bank. Simply put we gather it up and give it to other non-profit organizations," said Will Garner, Executive Director.

Garner took FOX 5 News a tour of Midwest Food Bank Georgia's big warehouse in Peachtree City, where the warehouse shelves were packed with food for needy families. And the volunteers, sometimes even youngsters, were packing it up for other charity to pass out.

The idea came from an Illinois farmer who collected food for his area community.

"Sixteen years later, the ten division of Midwest Food Bank have donated over $234 million in food," Garner said.

SKYFOX Drone showed how big an operation this is. Think about this, the local warehouse empties or turns over every month. That's how much local need there is out there, families who require help putting a meal on the table. Midwest Food Bank Georgia last year provided $18 million in food to 56 counties mostly here in Georgia.

The charity also packages what it calls Tender Mercies meals. Made from rice and beans, the charity nationwide has packaged and distributed millions of these meals. For the first time in Georgia, they will make the meals here with volunteer help this weekend. They are meals that families can cook for themselves at home.

"We will then distribute these meals to our local non-profit partners," Garner said.

Anyone who would like to learn more can visit their webpage at midwestfoodbank.org.

Tender Mercies Program: midwestfoodbank.org/services/tender-mercies-program