Redundancy to Build Resilience in Food Bank Operations

• In Event: DOCTORAL RESEARCH SHOWCASE: Award Showcase Session

Abstract

Food banks play a significant role in hunger relief, and the demand spikes during disruptions
like the COVID-19 pandemic demonstrate the need to build resilience towards future disruptions
to ramp-up food distribution. A unique and common way to build resilience in non-profits is
redundancy-building through their networks. In this study, we investigate the role of two such
strategies, network size, and agency-empowered delivery, in affecting an organization's level of
resilience in food distribution. Using a panel regression model on data from 164 food banks, we
demonstrate the strategies’ roles in scaling up distribution as well as costs during normal times.

Authors

• Yingru Han, University of South Carolina

• Luv Sharma, University of South Carolina

• Pelin Pekgun, University of South Carolina

• Olga Perdikaki, University of South Carolina