Operation Blessing International Expands Hunger Relief Efforts

Operation Blessing International (OBI) and Bristol, Virginia-based Kingsway Charities have expanded their longtime partnership. Under the new arrangement, OBI's Hunger Strike Force will operate a 23,000 square-foot food distribution site in Kingsway's warehouse for at least the next five years, enabling OBI's Hunger Strike Force to greatly expand its hunger relief efforts throughout Appalachia. John Gregory, president of Kingsway Charities and OBI president Bill Horan made this announcement today.

For 15 years, Kingsway Charities had been a partner in OBI's Hunger Strike Force, operating its own food distribution site in Bristol. Over the past 5 years, the Hunger Strike Force has delivered over 29.6 million pounds of food and relief aid into the Appalachian region of the U.S., and of that, some 13.7 million pounds specifically to the Kingsway Charities facility. However, Kingsway Charities discontinued its program in January due to financial restraints, and began looking for an organization to take over operations of the warehouse and continue the outreach. Due to its extensive experience in hunger relief, Kingsway Charities chose to expand its partnership with Operation Blessing International.

Now that the expanded partnership is in place, OBI's Hunger Strike Force will begin operations of a regional food distribution site from the Kingsway Charities building. Initially, OBI anticipates distributing as much as 2-to-5 truckloads per week, 175,000 pounds of food, hygiene, and additional relief aid into Appalachia, along with utilizing the Bristol warehouse as a distribution hub to stage and transport up to 200,000 pounds of additional product per week to other neighboring states and regions. OBI hopes to be fully operational by the end of the summer and expects to distribute approximately 15 million pounds in the first 12 months.

John Gregory, President of Kingsway Charities stated, “We’re extremely excited to expand the partnership with Operation Blessing International’s Hunger Strike Force. The need in Appalachia in this current economy is great and we are eager to unite with such an experienced ministry.”

Bill Horan, president of Operation Blessing stated, “We are grateful to Kingsway for this opportunity. The current recession is pushing an ever-increasing number of Americans into the ranks of the 'newly made poor.' By combining Operation Blessing's trucking fleet and food resources with Kingsway's strategically-placed facility and multi-denominational church network, we will leverage our mutual strengths, and as a result, feed more people than either of us could have on our own.”

How You Can Help
Every day, the fleet of Hunger Strike Force trucks are on the road, delivering nutritious food and essential supplies to thousands facing hunger and poverty. With your help, we can continue to impact lives and give hope to those who need it most. Consider making an online donation today.