Omaha nonprofits collaborate to tackle surge in food insecurity

ALEXANDRA: FIRST TONIGHT, THE MASSIVE EFFORT TO FEED FAMILIES ACROSS THE METRO. GOOD EVENING. I’M ALEXANDRA STONE. MORE CORONAVIRUS CASES MEAN MORE FOOD INSECURITY. THAT’S WHY SOCIAL WORKERS SAY THEY’RE LINING UP TO DELIVER MEALS. KETV NEWSWATCH 7’S KATHERINE GARCIA SHOWS US ONE OF THE HUBS WHERE NONPROFITS, SCHOOLS, AND CHURCHES ALL WORK TOGETHER. KATHERINE: WHISPERING ROOTS CEO, GREG FRIPP, TAKES A DIFFERENT KIND OF ROUTE TO HELP OTHERS. BEFORE THE PANDEMIC BEGAN, FRIPP WAS FOCUSED ON HELPING KIDS MAKE HEALTHY CHOICE NOW, FOUR DAYS A WEEK, HE DELIVERS USDA FOOD BOXES TO POP-UP PANTRIES AROUND THE METRO, INCLUDING TRINITY LUTHERAN CHURCH. >> WHEN WE FIRST STARTED THE NUMBERS, YOU KNOW, WE MIGHT DO 40 BOXES OR SOMETHING LIKE THAT. BUT NOW, YOU KNOW, WE GET PEOPLE WHO LINE UP TWO HOURS BEFORE WE ACTUALLY DO A DISTRIBUTION. SO WE’LL DROP 10,000 POUNDS AT A STOP, AND THAT’LL BE GONE IN 60 TO 90 MINUTES. KATHERINE: CHURCH OFFICE MANAGER, CARRI PRUSIA, SAYS WHISPERING ROOTS AND EMPOWER-OMAHA HELP HER WITH HER OWN MISSION TO FEED FAMILIES, TRANSFORMING TRINITY LUTHERAN INTO A SMALL FOOD PANTRY AND A DELIVERY HUB >> FOLKS AREN’T ABLE TO GET INTO THE GROCERY STORES BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC SNAP BENEFITS HAV — BECAUSE OF THE PANDEMIC. SNAP BENEFITS HAVE BEEN LOWERED OR PUT BACK TO NORMAL. MORE PEOPLE ARE OUT OF WORK. THE SICKER THAT THE COMMUNITY GETS, THE MORE DEMAND THAT WE’RE SEEING FOR THE FOOD. KATHERINE: NOW, ONCE A WEEK, PUBLIC AND PRIVATE SCHOOL EMPLOYEES PICK UP FOOD FOR STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES. MONICA WELLS IS A COUNSELOR AT NELSON MANDELA ELEMENTARY. >> I LOVE THAT THIS IS RIGHT NEXT DOOR TO OUR SCHOOL, SO WE GET TO COME OVER HERE AND GET BOXES OF REQUESTS TO SOME OF OUR FAMILIES AND MAKE SURE THAT THEY HAVE WHAT THEY NEED. KATHERINE: EACH OF THESE PALLETTES WEIGHS AT LEAST 1200 POUNDS. RIGHT NOW, WHISPERING ROOTS IS DELIVERING ROUGHLY 140,000 POUNDS OF FOOD EACH WEEK. FRIPP SEES THE NEED FIRSTHAND. >> THERE WAS A FAMILY WHO PULLED UP, WHO ALL THEY COULD SAY WAS FOOD, THEY DIDN’T SPEAK ENGLISH, THEY ALL THEY COULD SAY WAS FOOD. SO WE LITERALLY STOPPED THE TRUCK AND PULLED THE FOOD OFF THE BACK OF THE TRUCK. THE MESSAGE NEEDS TO GET OUT, THAT PEOPLE ARE HUNGRY. AND IF THEY DON’T BELIEVE US, LOOK AT THIS LINE. KATHERINE: IN OMAHA, KATHERINE GARCIA, KETV NEWSWATCH 7 ALEXANDRA: WHISPERING ROOTS IS STILL LOOKING FOR VOLUNTEERS, SPECIALLY THOSE WITH A COMMERCIAL DRIVERS LICENSE TO HELP DELIVER THOUSANDS OF POUNDS OF FOOD TO POP-UP PANTRIES ACROSS THE

Omaha nonprofits collaborate to tackle surge in food insecurity

Updated: 7:51 PM CST Dec 4, 2020

Nonprofit organizations, churches and schools are collaborating to feed Omaha. Several of these groups are linking the pandemic to a surge of food insecurity including Whispering Roots CEO Greg Fripp who has taken a different kind of “route” to help others. Before the pandemic began, Fripp’s organization was focused on helping kids make healthy choices, now Whispering Roots is essentially a food distribution operation. Four days a week, Fripp drives an 18-wheeler, delivering USDA food boxes to pop-up pantries across the Metro. “The message needs to get out that people are hungry, and if they don’t believe us look at this line,” said Fripp. “When we first started the numbers you know we might do 40 boxes or something like that, but now, you know, we get people who line up two hours before we actually do a distribution. So we’ll drop 10,000 pounds at a stop, and that’ll be gone in 60 to 90 minutes.”Carri Prusia is the office manager at Trinity Lutheran Church. She said Whispering Roots and Empower-Omaha are helping her with her own mission to feed families.”Folks aren’t able to get into the grocery stores because of the pandemic SNAP benefits have been lowered or ‘put back to normal,'” said Prusia. “More people are out of work. The sicker that the community gets, the more demand that we’re seeing for the food.”The small food pantry at Trinity Lutheran has transformed into a major food delivery hub. Once a week, public and private school employees pick up food for students and their families, Monica Wells is a counselor at Nelson Mandela Elementary. “I love that this is right next door to our school, so we get to come over here and get boxes of requests to some of our families and make sure that they have what they need,” said Wells.

OMAHA, Neb. —

Nonprofit organizations, churches and schools are collaborating to feed Omaha.

Several of these groups are linking the pandemic to a surge of food insecurity including Whispering Roots CEO Greg Fripp who has taken a different kind of “route” to help others.

Before the pandemic began, Fripp’s organization was focused on helping kids make healthy choices, now Whispering Roots is essentially a food distribution operation. Four days a week, Fripp drives an 18-wheeler, delivering USDA food boxes to pop-up pantries across the Metro.

“The message needs to get out that people are hungry, and if they don’t believe us look at this line,” said Fripp. “When we first started the numbers you know we might do 40 boxes or something like that, but now, you know, we get people who line up two hours before we actually do a distribution. So we’ll drop 10,000 pounds at a stop, and that’ll be gone in 60 to 90 minutes.”

Carri Prusia is the office manager at Trinity Lutheran Church. She said Whispering Roots and Empower-Omaha are helping her with her own mission to feed families.

“Folks aren’t able to get into the grocery stores because of the pandemic SNAP benefits have been lowered or ‘put back to normal,'” said Prusia. “More people are out of work. The sicker that the community gets, the more demand that we’re seeing for the food.”

The small food pantry at Trinity Lutheran has transformed into a major food delivery hub. Once a week, public and private school employees pick up food for students and their families, Monica Wells is a counselor at Nelson Mandela Elementary.

“I love that this is right next door to our school, so we get to come over here and get boxes of requests to some of our families and make sure that they have what they need,” said Wells.