Hurricane Katrina Updates

On this page you will find Hurricane Katrina relief updates, which were posted daily, then weekly, then monthly during our disaster relief activities.  It shows a clear picture of the relief effort.

September 7, 2005
It has been a little over a week since Hurricane Katrina devastated a large portion of our service area, and despite suffering significant damage to our warehouse and our generator, we have been working to help with the relief efforts on the Gulf Coast.  Our warehouse and office are both open 7 days a week through the duration of the relief effort, and we have expanded our hours to open at 7:30 a.m. and close at 5:30 p.m.  Today, the Bay Area Food Bank distributed 177,945 pounds of food to people in the affected areas in Mississippi and Alabama. To date, the Bay Area Food Bank has distributed 762,727 pounds of food to hurricane survivors.

September 8, 2005
Today, the Bay Area Food Bank distributed 364,164 pounds of food to agencies delivering food to shelters and other distributions sites in hurricane ravaged areas in Alabama and Mississippi.  To date, the Bay Area Food Bank has distributed 1,126,524 pounds of food to people who have been affected by Hurricane Katrina.  That's over a million pounds in just ten days!  The relief effort continues, and we will be here for the duration.

September 9, 2005
Distribution today was 269,325, for a total of 1,395,849.  Volunteers at Dayspring Baptist Church have been churning out food boxes at a rate of almost 1,000 per day!

September 10, 2005
Saturday was a slower day for distribution with "only" 123,889 pounds of food distributed.  That includes 1073 emergency food boxes. Sunday will also be a little down...but Monday will be full speed again.

September 11, 2005
On Sunday, we were able to do 16,129 pounds, so the numbers were definitely down, but we look forward to another busy week!

September 12, 2005
Well, the week brought a rise in totals from Sunday with distributions of 161,016 pounds on Monday.  We expect to see the numbers rise again on Tuesday.

September 13, 2005
On Tuesday, we distributed 167,789 pounds to hurricane victims along the Gulf Coast.  Trucks are rolling in and out at a very fast pace, and we appreciate all the hard work of people collecting and distributing food for us and with us.

September 14, 2005
On Wednesday, we distributed 199,612 pounds of food to hurricane survivors.  The steady rise in distribution from the weekend proves that this disaster is still far from over. We will continue distributing disaster aid for as long as needed, and then will continue to be here for our community even when the disaster is over.

September 15, 2005
On Thursday, we saw another increase in our distribution, indicating that the need is still strong in our service area.  We distributed 263,466 pounds of food.  Close to 21,000 pounds were distributed from our boxing operation at Dayspring Baptist Church to distributions sites all around the service area, while the rest came from our warehouse.  To date, the Bay Area Food Bank has distributed almost 2.3 million pounds of food to hurricane survivors.  We are happy to be of service to hurricane-ravaged areas as well as to shelters that are housing evacuees.  We look forward to continuing our hurricane relief and our regular operations in the weeks and months to come.

September 16, 2005
On Friday, we distributed 160,287 pounds of food to hurricane victims.

September 17-18, 2005
During the weekend, distribution "slowed" to 90,355 pounds of food.  This brings our grand total during this disaster recovery to over 2.5 million pounds of food.

September 19, 2005
Our distribution for Monday was 68,832 pounds of food.

September 20, 2005
Our distribution for Tuesday was 157,817 pounds of food.

September 21, 2005
Our distribution for Wednesday was 159,737 pounds of food.  Things are still very busy around here, and we are all working hard to make sure no one affected by Hurricane Katrina is hungry.

September 22, 2005
Our distribution for September 22 was 136,372. 

September 23-25, 2005
Our distribution for the weekend was 243,074 pounds of food.  As always, we expect distribution to pick up during the week.

September 23-25, 2005
Our distribution for the weekend was 243,074 pounds of food.  As always, we expect distribution to pick up during the week.

September 27, 2005
Distribution for September 27 was 143,650

September 28, 2005
Distribution for September 28 was 184,375

September 29, 2005
Distribution for September 29 was 120,613.

September 30-October 2, 2005
Distribution for the weekend of Sept. 30 - Oct. 2 dropped off a little, coming in at only 73,629. 

Week of October 3-9, 2005
During the week of October 3-9, we distributed 572,692 pounds of food.  This food was distributed to Baldwin County and Mobile County in Alabama, and George, Harrison, Jackson and Hancock Counties in Mississippi.  We delivered 117,294 pounds of the total food distributed, which makes up over 20 percent of the total food distributed for the week.

Week of October 10-16
During the week of October 10-16, we distributed 407,164 pounds of food to hurricane survivors.  The largest amount of food was distributed in Harrison County, Mississippi, with substantial amounts also going to Hancock County, Jackson County, and George County, as well as Mobile County, Baldwin County, Chocktaw County, Monroe County, and Washington County in Alabama.  We delivered 96,264 pounds of the total food distributed, an increase from last week to make up 23 percent of all food distributed.  Peggy, one of our helpers from another food bank, took a trip down to Biloxi last week to help distribute food.  She reported that the need there is still tremendous, and that our work is far from finished.  Of course, we will continue to distribute food to anyone who has been affected by Hurricane Katrina, while continuing to support our regular agencies and their clients.  It will be a long, hard road to recovery, but we will be there to help, long after other organizations have gone elsewhere.  We are here for the duration and beyond.

Week of October 17-23
During the week of October 17-23, we distributed 362,668 pounds of food. Hancock County, Mississippi received over 86,700 pounds with 86 percent of that food being delivered by the food bank.  Jackson, Harrison, Stone, Greene, George, and Pearl River counties in Mississippi also received significant amounts of food, ranging from 8,463 pounds delivered to Greene County to 66,968 pounds given to Pearl River County.  In Alabama, Baldwin County received 11,757 pounds of food and Mobile County received 16,629 pounds of food.  This is all disaster related food, not counting our regular support to agencies in all our Alabama, Mississippi and Florida counties.  We gave disaster relief food and supplies to 27 sites in nine Alabama and Mississippi counties during the week of October 17-23, demonstrating an ongoing need for relief and recovery in the area.

Week of October 24-30
During the week of October 24-30, we distributed 252,407 pounds of food.  Harrison County, Mississippi received over 153,000 pounds of food.  Food was also given to Mobile County, George County, Jackson County, Stone County, Hancock County and Pearl River County.  We have also been supporting our regular agencies in addition to the increase in demand for disaster related food and supplies.  We gave disaster relief food and supplies to 25 sites in seven Alabama and Mississippi counties during the week.

Week of October 31 - November 6
During the week of October 31 - November 6, we distributed 363,658 pounds of food to hurricane victims in Alabama and Mississippi.  We delivered 94,442 pounds of food and supplies to Hancock County, Mississippi.  Areas in Mobile County in Alabama received 53,243 pounds of food and supplies.  We distributed food and supplies to six of our eight counties in Mississippi, and three counties in Alabama that are still trying to recover from Hurricane Katrina.  In addition to supporting our regular agencies in their hunger relief efforts, we have continued our disaster relief.  We gave food and supplies to 26 disaster relief sites during the week.

Week of November 7-13
During the week of November 7-13, we distributed 285,916 pounds of food to hurricane victims in Alabama and Mississippi.  We distributed food to 8 counties in those two states, including Escambia and Mobile counties in Alabama, and George, Harrison, Jackson, Stone, Hancock and Pearl River counties in Mississippi.  We gave food and supplies to 19 hurricane relief sites during the week

Week of November 14-20
During the week of November 14-20, we distributed 286,529 pounds of food to hurricane victims in Alabama and Mississippi.  We distributed food to six counties in the two states, at 15 different feeding sites.

Week of November 21-27
Many people were able to have Thanksgiving dinner because of our turkey distribution, held on November 18.  Agencies from all over came to the food bank and picked up turkeys for their feeding programs.  Many of these feeding programs were specifically for hurricane victims in Alabama and Mississippi, to serve them a hot meal on Thanksgiving.  During the week of November 21-27, we distributed 156,136 pounds of food (not counting the turkeys) to disaster victims.  This food was sent to Mobile County in Alabama, and Greene, Harrison, Jackson, Hancock, and Pearl River counties in Mississippi.  Feeding sites are still up and running in all these counties and the people are not going hungry.  We will continue to distribute disaster food and supplies for as long as the hurricane victims need it.

Week of November 28 - December 4
During the week of November 28 - December 4, the food bank distributed 223,780 pounds of food, proving that the need for assistance is still there, especially in our Mississippi counties and Bayou La Batre in Mobile County, Alabama.