Pennsylvania American Water & Midwest Food Bank
Businesses Supporting Community Nonprofits
Pennsylvania American Water
amwater.com/paaw
107 Meadowbrook Rd.
New Cumberland, PA 17070
Why is supporting local nonprofits important to your business?
As Pennsylvania’s largest water and wastewater utility company, we understand that strong, healthy communities are built on access to essential resources. Supporting local nonprofits allows us to further our mission of providing safe, clean, reliable and affordable services while investing in the well-being of the communities we serve. At Pennsylvania American Water, We Keep Life Flowing for our customers and their communities by collaborating with local organizations that support our mission of addressing the diverse needs of the people in our community, whether through food assistance programs, environmental stewardship, education or other critical services.
By supporting partners who serve our neighbors in need, we are helping to strengthen the tide of our community, making us all more resilient, sustainable and equitable. When we invest in our community, we are helping develop our efforts to improve sustainability and public well-being.
Why did you choose this particular nonprofit, and how do you support them?
We support Midwest Food Bank because food insecurity is, unfortunately, a pressing issue that affects individuals and families across our community. Everyone deserves access to nutritious food, and Midwest Food Bank plays a critical role in our region, ensuring people in need do not go hungry. Their mission of rescuing potentially wasted food and sharing it with partner organizations across Pennsylvania helps keep food on our neighbor’s tables.
As a company dedicated to providing clean and reliable water and wastewater services, we understand that access to basic needs such as food and water is essential for a thriving community. Their dedication to reducing food waste and rescuing food from landfills aligns with our focus on sustainability and responsible resource management.
By supporting the Midwest Food Bank, Pennsylvania American Water is investing in the well-being of the communities we serve. We recognize that food insecurity impacts our neighbors’ health, education and economic stability, and we are proud to support organizations like Midwest Food Bank that are making a real difference.
Together, we are also championing Pennsylvania American Water’s H2O Help to Others program, which helps our customers save between $17.66 and $64.99 on their water bill and/or $40.53 to $93.12 on their wastewater bill each month. Midwest Food Bank has been a key partner in helping us increase our reach to underserved communities.
Midwest Food Bank
midwestfoodbank.org/locations/pennsylvania
2700 Commerce Dr
Middletown, PA 17057
What is your organization’s mission, and how does corporate or foundation support contribute to your goals?
Midwest Food Bank was founded in 2003 by a farmer in rural Illinois who understood that our country produced more than enough food, yet so many people were in need of food. In doing so, he identified the main problem to be access and logistics vs. supply. As such, his family turned their barn into a “food bank” in order to make resources available to nonprofits and ministries helping people in their rural community. From those humble beginnings, MFB now has 10 locations across the U.S. and two international locations, distributing over $500 million of food last year. Midwest Food Bank PA opened late 2020, distributing food to 200 local nonprofit partners. While so many struggle with food insecurity, 40% of our U.S. food supply goes to waste each year! At Midwest Food Bank, we rescue that good food (overproduction/harvest, seasonal labeling, bulk commodities which volunteers repackage) and share it with people in need vs. a landfill. As an independent, faith-based food bank, we seek to alleviate hunger and provide disaster relief. One thing that differentiates Midwest Food Bank from many other food banks? We distribute all food to our partners free of charge thanks to the support from businesses and foundations like PAWC. Not only do our partners have needed food, they can extend their resources to meet other needs like youth education programs, workforce development and more. But it often starts with food!
What is your greatest need for corporate or foundation support in 2025?
Needs continue to increase. In 2024, our 200 partners provided food assistance to 332,000 people, a 60% increase from beneficiary statistics reported the year before. While more food is needed to meet needs, the costs of transporting, relocating, and distributing that food are increasing as well. In fact, transportation is the single greatest variable expense impacting the amount of food we are able to resource and distribute. Given our model of food rescue vs. purchases and volunteers vs. paid staff, we can turn every $1 into $30 of food, which is then distributed free of charge. It’s a tremendous ROI in terms of meeting community needs, equipping partners who are doing the front-line work, and reducing waste. We are extremely grateful to PAWC for partnering with us to achieve these goals.
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