Thread: FEMA Administrator Renews Partnership With Feeding America

FEMA Administrator Renews Partnership With Feeding America

Release Date: October 22, 2009
Release Number: HQ-09-129

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Today the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) renewed its partnership with Feeding America, the nation's largest nongovernmental hunger-relief charity at an event at the Greater Chicago Food Depository in Chicago, IL. At the event a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) was signed by FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate and Feeding America Senior Vice President for Government Relations George Braley, extending the important relationship between the organizations and allowing Feeding America to continue to provide FEMA with support during the response and recovery phases to emergencies and disasters.

"FEMA is only one part of the emergency response team," said FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate. "That team includes our entire federal family, state and local partners, the private sector, the public and non-profit organizations like Feeding America. As the federal coordinating agency in times of disasters, it is critical that we are able to leverage the resources of our partners, and today's event ensures that we can bring the resources of Feeding America to bear when communities are in need."

"Emergency Managers, at all levels of government, have come to recognize the Feeding America network of food banks and agencies as an important resource for effectively distributing relief supplies following disaster," said George Braley, Senior Vice President for Government Relations and Advocacy. "This new MOU with FEMA formally recognizes our great partnership and work together in recent years. It also demonstrates our shared commitment to help build more resilient communities by focusing on the most vulnerable among us."

Each year, the Feeding America network provides food assistance to more than 25 million low-income people facing hunger in the United States, including more than 9 million children and nearly 3 million seniors. Their network of more than 200 food banks serves all 50 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico.

Through the MOU Feeding America agrees to provide support to FEMA as an active member of the mass care emergency support function. Feeding America will continue to participate in immediate disaster response and long-term recovery by coordinating with and supporting other mass care providers as needed. The agreement also allows Feeding America and FEMA to make full use of the National Donations Management Network. This includes sharing information on available donated goods and volunteer services for disaster response and recovery. In connecting non-profit agencies like Feeding America with members of the public and private sectors who are looking for ways to help, FEMA is able to more quickly support non-profits in meeting the specific disaster-related needs of survivors.

The agreement also encourages the 200 member organizations of Feeding America to become compliant with the National Incident Management System (NIMS), which provides organizations the tools necessary to become an active partner during our nation's preparedness for, and response and recovery to disasters.

FEMA continues to engage daily with our voluntary agency partners who play a critical role in disaster preparedness, response, recovery and mitigation. For more information about these partners visit the National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster Web site at www.nvoad.org. More information about Feeding America can be found at www.feedingamerica.org.

FEMA's mission is to support our first responders and ensure that as a nation we work together to build, sustain, and improve our capability to prepare for, protect against, respond to, recover from, and mitigate all hazards.

http://www.fema.gov/news/newsrelease.fema?id=49831

Feeding Americans or feed illegals?