Laredo Regional Food Bank receives grant from Medline Industries to support COVID-19 Emergency Food Distributions

The Laredo Regional Food Bank announced today it was awarded a $10,000 grant from Medline Industries in Laredo through funding from its Medline CARES program to help with COVID-19 relief efforts.

Medline is the largest-privately held medical products manufacturer and distributor in North America with more than 26,000 team members, 45 distribution centers and 22 manufacturing facilities. Medline has operated in Laredo for more than 10 years, serving hospitals and nursing homes in the region and throughout the U.S. from its local manufacturing center. The Laredo team produces approximately 500,000 surgical procedure kits per day and has been working around the clock since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic to get critical supplies to healthcare facilities.

“As a longtime member of this community, Medline is proud to stand with the Laredo Regional Food Bank helping those who need it most,” said Joaquin Nacher, Medline’s Vice President of Manufacturing Operations. “In addition to the devastating health impacts of COVID-19, many community members have also felt the economic impacts of the pandemic, creating food insecurities for some families. Medline’s role is not only as an employer and healthcare manufacturer, but also as a neighbor concerned about our community’s health and well-being.”

Currently on the thirteenth week of COVID-19 Emergency Food Distributions, the Laredo Regional Food Bank has provided an average of 500 “despensas” to its community each week in an effort to help fight hunger and food insecurity amidst the COVID-19 Emergency.

Laredo Regional Food Bank Executive Director Carmen Garcia added, “The Laredo Regional Food Bank is immensely grateful to Medline for the support provided by this contribution, which will help us continue our mission of serving the most vulnerable groups in our community of Laredo, which include unemployed, underemployed and furloughed individuals; senior citizens, pregnant women, at-risk children, veterans, disabled, migrants, survivors of domestic violence and substance abuse, and indigents, amongst other groups. For every $10 donated to the Laredo Regional Food Bank, a “despensa,” or emergency food box, containing up to 75 pounds of shelf-stable and fresh food is provided for a family in need.”

Learn more about Medline Corporate Social Responsibility at www.medline.com/pages/about-us/social-responsibility/.

The mission of the Laredo Regional Food Bank is to relieve hunger for families experiencing temporary economic hardship in our community, raise awareness about food insecurity and hunger, and to eliminate food waste.

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