The Midwest Food Bank will send a semi-truck next week to provide relief supplies for victims of the Camp Fire in Northern California.
The Arizona branch of the Food Bank partnered with The Salvation Army to organize the shipment into Paradise, Calif.
The Camp Fire reduced Paradise to ashes last week. It's the deadliest fire in California history.
Midwest Food Bank spokesperson Phil Hodel said only one shipment is scheduled so far.
“They have requested a load be sent up to the Paradise, Calif., area. So we will be sending that, it’s loading now. I believe the send date is Tuesday. And then, my guess is there will probably be more loads requested and we will be on hand to do that,” Hodel said.
The Food Bank is accepting monetary donations on its website to fund hygiene kits, nonperishable foods, and fuel costs for the shipment.
“Any of the things that we send up there, if the Arizona location of Midwest Food Bank does not have enough of the product, we will ship it from our other Midwest Food Bank locations to Arizona so that they are able to comply with the request of the Salvation Army and get that food out to those people,” Hodel said.
This is the first time the Midwest Food Bank has worked with the Salvation Army in California.
The Food Bank started in Bloomington-Normal in 2003 and now has nine locations around the world including in East Africa and Haiti.
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