BUFFALO, N.Y. (WIVB) — During the month of September, the nation is honoring both Hunger Action Month and National Preparedness Month. FeedMore WNY is preparing to help the community combat hunger during the challenges faced during winter weather events.

“We know how important it is to be prepared for an event of foul winter weather. We in Buffalo know that more than anyone. We want to make sure that our homebound neighbors have these access to emergency food,” said Catherine Shick, Public Relations Manager for FeedMore WNY.

They’re packing up non-perishable food items in “Blizzard Boxes” to help fight hunger even in times when they can’t reach front doors.

“Our Blizzard Boxes are made very year at FeedMore WNY, they contain a variety of non-perishable food items, things like peanut butter, tuna fish, canned fruits and vegetables, shelf stable milk and water bottles,” said Shick. “The goal of these boxes is to help our community members is there’s ever a blizzard — they have these provisions to tie them over until FeedMore is able to get to them with nutritious meals.”

Following last year’s historic and devastating winter weather events, Erie County has helped fund the creation of these boxes to be distributed throughout the community. 2,800 boxes have been prepared so far that will be distributed to homebound neighbors, but also police and fire stations.

“We know that last year in November, and then again in December, we got walloped with two incredibly devastating winter storms, and there were times that we could not get out safely to deliver meals to our homebound neighbors who rely on our nutritious meals each day,” said Shick. “As FeedMore WNY prepares our community with these blizzard boxes, we’re also asking for our Western New York neighbors to prepare us and one of those ways they can do that is by participating with us in this contest.”

FeedMore is one of the twenty finalists in the “Defender Service Award” presented by Chase. If they receive the most votes — they could receive a new Land Rover Defender 130 that would help them combat winter weather conditions, to deliver to those who count on them.

“We know that so many people were left stranded in December, especially after our most recent horrible historical blizzard, and to have an all-terrain vehicle would allow us access to those hard to reach places, be able to drive in bad snow, and really get quickly to our neighbors in need,” said Shick.

If you would like to vote for FeedMore in the national contest, click here. Voters can vote once a day, per email, every day until the end of the day on October 4. To help give back to our community during Hunger Action Month, visit their website here.