Feeding 10 Million Americans During the Coronavirus Crisis – Convoy of Hope

In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Convoy of Hope, a humanitarian food distribution ministry, recently announced an initiative to serve “10 Million Meals” across America. Since then, Convoy has delivered more than 5 million meals to partners, churches, and community organizations across the United States.

“We are grateful to hit the 5 million meal mark,” said Hal Donaldson, president of Convoy of Hope. “But the need is still so great. We’re going to do everything possible to keep our fleet of semi-trucks rolling. Once we reach 10 million meals, we plan to set an even higher goal.”

In the midst of this crisis, Convoy of Hope has received hundreds of requests for assistance from more than 40 states. Donaldson reports receiving video from churches of cars stretched two miles long with people waiting to drive through to receive their groceries.

“Lines of cars are longer than expected at distribution sites,” said Donaldson. “Lots of people have lost their jobs, children don’t have access to school lunch programs, and some stores are struggling to keep their shelves full.”

“When the virus hit, we asked ourselves, ‘What assets do we have?’ We had a 300,000 square foot warehouse filled with food. We also had a fleet of semi-trucks. So we said, ‘Let’s get the word out that we’re going to distribute 10 million meals – and we will do it through churches.’”

“Our goal is to lift up the name of Jesus, but also to elevate the local church. We are doing that in 43 states across the US, and in more than 20 countries around the world.”

“Thanks to the generosity of corporations, individuals, and churches, many families are receiving much needed help,” Donaldson said. “This is a united act of compassion. We’re seeing so many groups link arms to help people get through this crisis.”

Throughout the week, Convoy of Hope volunteers gather supplies from corporate donors, then the food is sent out from their distribution center in Springfield, Missouri, to churches in all four corners of the country.

“We’ve had a lot of activity in Seattle, Sacramento, the San Francisco Bay area, LA,” Donaldson explains. “We also serve Chicago, New York, Florida, Texas, and many places in between.”

“We’ve had about a hundred churches every week calling to say they need help. But on the back end, our suppliers are also being stretched. We have corporations that are trying to keep food on the shelves of stores. Because our suppliers are struggling, we’ve had to go to them and ask, ‘Will you sell us product at below wholesale prices so that we can keep momentum going?’ We’ve had a number of corporations that have stepped up and said they will do that for us.”

Convoy of Hope has partnered with individuals, churches, ministries, and businesses to purchase this food and distribute it to those in need. “We are spending thousands of dollars every week to keep the trucks rolling.”

“I want to say thank you to Inspiration Ministries for being a long-term supporter of Convoy of Hope. When no one knew our name, David Cerullo and Inspiration Ministries believed in us. What Convoy of Hope is today is in large part because of friends like you who believed in our vision.”

“In some respects, kindness is a medicine that many Americans need right now,” Davidson concludes, “and we’re seeing it being given out across the nation.”

Convoy of Hope is a faith-based, nonprofit organization with a driving passion to feed the world through children’s feeding initiatives, community outreaches, and disaster response. Visit convoyofhope.org to learn more about the 10 Million Meals outreach.