KEARNEY, Neb. (AP) - Vaccinations may be slowing the spread of COVID-19, but not the spread of hunger. Many people still are struggling with lost or reduced paychecks as the year-old pandemic drags on.
Thanks to Dick Cochran, founder and president of Hot Meals USA, the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Farmers to Families food program is assisting hungry people. The program is part of a $3 billion effort that distributes surplus produce, dairy and meat products to food-insecure people.
Last week, cars drove slowly into the Ag building at the Buffalo County Fairgrounds and stopped as volunteers loaded free boxes of food into their trunks. People got as many boxes as they requested.
No ID was required. No questions were asked.
The Kearney Hub reports that scenes like that have been repeated weekly since Cochran learned of the program last June and offered to oversee the food distribution here.
Cochran puts in 40-60 unpaid hours a week doing that now, not just in Nebraska, but in six other states, too. Much of his time is spent coordinating deliveries with the vendor where the food originates.
“We talk about location. We have to have a good traffic flow in and out and cover all the little details. Then we schedule the semis to start coming,” he said.
Currently, Cochran deals with the Liberty Food Company in Kansas City, but that can change. He also has worked with companies in Iowa and Kansas as well as Cash-Wa in Kearney.
Deliveries arrive in either a 48-foot-long semi packed with 960 boxes of food and 960 gallons of milk, or a 53-foot-long semi carrying 1,200 food boxes and 1,200 boxes of milk.
Last week, 1,200 food boxes arrived in Kearney from a supplier in Kansas City. Kyla Martin, an administrator who handles community projects at the Community Action Partnership of Mid-Nebraska, was able to get 300 more food boxes from Cash-Wa. On Thursday, she and volunteers gave it away at the fairgrounds.
Each box contained canned goods, chicken, hot dogs, apples, Colby Jack cheese, tomatoes, lettuce, onions and more. “And, just in time for St. Paddy’s Day, baby red potatoes,” Martin said.
Efforts by Cochran and volunteers have helped deliver 625 food box-loaded semis to people in Nebraska, North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Iowa, Kansas and Missouri. They have helped feed more than 750,000 food-challenged families during the pandemic.
“We’re delivering from Scottsbluff to Omaha and many locations in between. Just imagine 48 semis of 1,200 food boxes and 1,200 gallons of milk each. That’s 57,600 families receiving enough food for 20 meals along with 57,600 gallons of milk. That’s 1,152,000 meals going to food-challenged people just in February,” he said.
He worked hard to get a truck out to Scottsbluff.
“They’d never received food boxes from the USDA due to their location,” Cochran said, “Food pantries in Nebraska are covered in Lincoln and Omaha, but once past Lincoln, they don’t know the rest of the state exists.”
He is working on a plan to get food to storm-lashed Texas shortly. Earlier this month, the federal government estimated that 56% of that state’s population was food-challenged because of the disaster, he said.
“We’ll never feed them all, but if we swing this, we could feed 120,000 families a week. That’s 2,400,000 meals a week,” he said. So far, he has 1,200 volunteers ready and waiting to help through service clubs and other groups.
“Yes, I’m scared to death about doing this. Maybe I’m not smart enough to know there’s a reason no one has done this before, but if we don’t try, that would be worse. So, it’s full speed ahead,” he said
Food is distributed in Kearney every week. So far, it will continue through March, and it may extend into late June, which is the first anniversary of when the program began. Food has been delivered to Lexington as well.
“This program has taken on a life of its own. It has been a real blessing,” Cochran said. “Without a building or staff, we’ve become the largest food distribution entity in the state. It’s all done with volunteers and a whole lot of prayers.”
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