Delaware sends bottled water, infant formula and donated meal boxes to North Carolina to assist victims of Hurricane Helene.
Monday’s donation included three pallets each of infant formula and donated meal boxes with shelf-stable items, as well as 18 pallets of bottled water.
Food Bank of Delaware is a part of a national network of food banks, meal programs and food pantries known as Feeding America, which is coordinating disaster relief for areas impacted by Hurricane Helene.
Delaware Food Bank President and CEO Cathy Kanefsky explains organizational efforts by Feeding America takes pressure off of local chapters directly affected by the natural disaster.
“It's really a nice coordination that we are all just sitting back hearing what's needed, being able to send it and then know that it's getting to the right place," Kanefsky said.
The infant formula is part of Delaware’s free Infant Formula Distribution Program, which Lt. Gov. Bethany Hall-Long helped launch in response to a national infant formula shortage in 2022.
Kanefsky explains they’ve been on a timeline while raising awareness about the availability of the remaining formula.
“We've actually been monitoring that really closely because the expiration dates were going to be right around the corner, so the fact that that formula was going on that truck and going into a community where there are moms and babies just waiting for it was just really a beautiful thing to see.”
95% of the formula canisters were donated to nonprofits and partners across the state, and now 1,020 of the remaining 1,200 canisters have been sent to families in need in the southeast.
Last week, the Delaware Emergency Management Agency and the Delaware State Fire School deployed a Swift Water Rescue Team to North Caroline to support response and recovery efforts.
