How We Work

With support from many generous food and financial donors and more than 2000 volunteers, Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC serves as a supplemental source of donated food for more than 390 non-profit partner agencies that provide food to the hungry and others in need throughout 18 counties, from Boone to Burlington.

We are a proud member of America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network, comprised of more than 200 food banks and food rescue organizations. Together, we are a passionate community of individuals and organizations united nationally and responding locally to the issue of hunger in our neighborhoods and nation. Collectively, we distribute more than 2 billion pounds of food each year to 50,000 non-profit organizations serving those in need across the nation.

Second Harvest Food Bank of Northwest NC partner agency programs include: Emergency food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, rescue missions, halfway houses, domestic violence shelters, group homes, low-income day care centers, food box delivery programs, Meals-On-Wheels, Kids Cafes, and congregate feeding programs for seniors and children.The food partner agencies receive is free, with only a nominal handling fee included on most items to help defray our costs for soliciting, collecting, sorting, inspecting and distributing the food. Partner agency programs save nearly 12 million dollars each year by using our food distribution program. Beyond food, we offer our partner agencies technical assistance in meeting food distribution program criteria, and education in such areas as proper food storage, handling, and preparation.

Food donations come from a variety of sources. Nearly 10 million pounds of food, much of which might otherwise have gone to waste, is collected each year from our donors for distribution to our partner agencies including:

• National donors, through America's Second Harvest - The Nation's Food Bank Network
• NC General Assembly - allocates funds for food purchase to the seven North Carolina America's Second Harvest members to help purchase staple food items that generally are not donated through other sources
• The N.C. Department of Agriculture and Consumer Services (government commodities)
• Local food manufacturers, distributors, processors and farmers
• Local grocery stores and their reclamation centers
• Local caterers, restaurants and food service organzations
• Gleaning organzations like the Society of St. Andrew
• A community garden
• Community food drives
• Individual donations

Our Facility: Donated product is inspected, sorted and stored in our 65,000 sq. ft. warehouse for distribution to our partner agency network. Partner agencies come to our warehouse located in Winston-Salem, Forsyth County to "shop" for food for their programs or take advantage of our Rural Delivery Program, which is available to partner agencies in 12 of our 18 counties.

Special Programs: Second Harvest Food Bank's food distribution program is the foundation for all our other programs, including two that target the issue of childhood hunger (KidsCafes and BackPack Programs), and the Triad Community Kitchen program that offers culinary training to underemployed and unemployed individuals while preparing ready-to-heat meals in bags for our partner agencies. Read more about Second Harvest Food Bank's work to alleviate childhood hunger. We also work with other hunger-relief organizations and partners to advocate for the rights of hungry people and raise awareness of hunger in our communities. As a member of NC VOAD (Volunteer Organizations Assisting in Disaster), we also provide food assistance when disaster strikes.

We invite you to learn more about our organization and how you can get involved in
sharing the abundance so no one goes hungry.