This Year's Project: Nourishing Futures: Backpacks for Kids
About Our Organization
The Food Bank of Siouxland was founded to serve community charities in Siouxland with feeding programs to nourish those in need. As a warehouse, we are able to leverage our resources to supply food and essentials to our member agencies, which directly serve those considered food insecure in our communities. The Food Bank is the main food supplier for nonprofit agencies in Siouxland, including food pantries and soup kitchens. With help from our sponsors and donors we are able to provide a year-round source of food.
The Food Bank of Siouxland works with approximately 100 member agencies in 11 counties in the Siouxland area. These agencies, partners and programs spread across the following counties: Woodbury, Monona, Crawford, Plymouth, Cherokee, Sioux, Ida, and Lyon in Iowa; and Dakota, Thurston, and Burt in Nebraska. We also offer additional direct-service programs to help feed those in need. Our BackPack Program: Food For Kids provides weekly sacks of food for kids throughout the school year. The Mobile Pantry Program: Food to You is a food pantry on wheels! Our Mobile Pantry allows us to distribute thousands of pounds of food to host locations. Lastly, Mobile School Pantry: Food For Families provides readily accessible food assistance to students and their families. With the help of our agencies and partners we continue to nourish Siouxland.
Current Project: Nourishing Futures: Backpacks for Kids
Some children in the Siouxland community rely on school lunches as their only meals for the week. Thanks to the Food Bank of Siouxland's BackPack Program, elementary school students in Sioux City, South Sioux City, and rural northwest Iowa can count on weekend meals to keep them nourished and ready to learn.
$4 feeds one Siouxland student for the weekend
$16 sponsors a student for one month
$70 keeps a child nourished over the weekend for a semester
$140 covers an entire year of meals
The Food Bank of Siouxland is passionately committed to meeting the needs of nearly 11,000 at-risk children in our communities. Since 2006, our BackPack Program: Food for Kids has blossomed, ensuring that every Friday, children receive a sack of kid-friendly food to take home.
Our Childhood Hunger Initiative bridges the gap when school meals aren't available. Whether it's the BackPack Program providing weekend sustenance, or the Mobile School Pantry Program: Food for Families helping with weeknight dinners, we're dedicated to making sure every child has the nutrition they need to thrive.
Donate today and give Siouxland kids the chance to succeed with a full belly and a bright future!
Filling BackPacks, Feeding Children
Project Details
For some students in Siouxland, a school lunch meal may be the only meals they receive throughout the week. Thanks to the Food Bank of Siouxland's BackPack Program, elementary school students throughout Sioux City, South Sioux City and rural northwest Iowa, no child has to go without over the weekend.
$4 will feed one Siouxland student over the weekend.
$16 will sponsor a student for one month
$70 will keep that child nourished over the weekend for a semester
$140 will pay for an entire year of meals.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is committed to meeting the need of the nearly 11,000 children at-risk of hunger in our communities. Since 2006, our BackPack Program: Food for Kids has continued to grow by providing a sack of kid-friendly food for a child to be placed in their backpack on Fridays.
The Food Bank of Siouxland steps in with our Childhood Hunger Initiatives to fill the gaps when school meals aren't available. From providing meals for students to take home over the weekend through our BackPack Program: Food for Kids to helping families put food on the dinner table with our Mobile School Pantry Program: Food for Families, help us help kids succeed with a full belly and proper nutrition.
Donate today to give kids in the Siouxland the chance they deserve!
Feeding Children...One BackPack at a Time
Project Wrap Up
THANK YOU! We are so incredibly grateful to the Siouxland Community for their generosity in giving to the BackPack program. Thanks to your donations, over 60,000 backpacks were filled with food sacks throughout the 2022-2023 school year by over wonderful 1,000 volunteers.
Project Details
Four dollars is all it takes to feed one Siouxland student over the weekend. That's less than the cost of a latte to ensure that a 5-11 year old child in our community has food for the weekend.
$16 will sponsor a student for one month
$70 will keep that child nourished over the weekend for a semester
$140 will pay for an entire year of meals.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is committed to ensuring that the future of our community is bright by taking care of our most vulnerable demographic. Kids are the future, but how can they reach their full potential if they’re hungry? We know that our children cannot properly grow and develop without good nutrition. We also know that children at-risk of hunger are more likely to struggle in school.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is committed to meeting the need of the nearly 11,000 children at-risk of hunger in our communities. Since 2006, our BackPack Program: Food for Kids has continued to grow.
Many children in our community depend on school lunches to ensure that they have at least one meal a day. The Food Bank of Siouxland steps in with our Childhood Hunger Initiatives to fill the gaps when school meals aren't available. From providing meals for students to take home over the weekend through our BackPack Program: Food for Kids to helping families put food on the dinner table with our Mobile School Pantry Program: Food for Families, help us help kids succeed with a full belly and proper nutrition!
Donate today to give kids in the Siouxland the chance they deserve!
Childhood Hunger Initiative
Project Details
Four dollars is all it takes to feed one Siouxland student over the weekend. That's less than the cost of a latte to ensure that a 5-11 year old child in our community has food to eat over the weekend. $16 will sponsor a student for one month. $70 will keep that child nourished over the weekend for a semester and $140 will pay for an entire year of meals.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is committed to ensuring that the future of our community is the best it can be by taking care of our most vulnerable demographic. Kids are the future, but how can kids reach their full potential if they’re hungry? We know that our children cannot properly grow and develop without the good nutrition. We also know that children at-risk of hunger are more likely to struggle in school.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is committed to meeting the need of the nearly 11,000 children at-risk of hunger in our communities. We launched our BackPack Program: Food for Kids in 2006, and have continued to grow that program as part of our Child Hunger Initiatives.
Many children in our community depend on school lunches to ensure that they have at least one meal each day. The Food Bank of Siouxland steps in with our Childhood Hunger Initiatives to fill in the gaps when school meals aren't available. From providing meals for students to take home over the weekend through our BackPack Program: Food for Kids to helping families put food on the dinner table with our Mobile School Pantry Program: Food for Families, help us help kids succeed with a full belly and proper nutrition!
Donate today to give kids in the Siouxland the chance they deserve!
COVID-19 Relief for Kids
Project Details
Focusing is hard when you're hungry. If you've ever tried to concentrate on anything when your stomach is rumbling then you know how hard it can be. Many school aged kids in the Siouxland community deal with this every day. We know that our children can not properly grow and develop without the proper nutrition. We also know that children at-risk of hunger are more likely to struggle in school.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is committed to meeting the need of the nearly 11,000 children at-rish of hunger in our communities. We launched our BackPack Program: Food for Kids in 2006, and have continued to grow that program as part of our Child Hunger Initiatives.
Many children in our community depend on school lunches to ensure that they have at least one meal each day. The Food Bank of Siouxland steps in with our Childhood Hunger Initiatives to fill in the gaps when school meals aren't available. From providing meals for students to take home over the weekend through our BackPack Program: Food for Kids to helping families put food on the dinner table with our Mobile School Pantry Program: Food for Families, help us help kids succeed with a full belly and proper nutrition!
Donate today to give kids in the Siouxland the chance they deserve!
Fighting Hunger ... Nourishing Siouxland
Project Details
The Food Bank of Siouxland is leading the fight against hunger, but we need YOUR help to continue to do that every day!
But who could be hungry in Siouxland? ... Our summer 2018 intern went out and spoke with some of those struggling with hunger. We share parts of those stories below. You can read more by visiting our website and reading the full "Voices of Hunger" booklet under the "About Us" drop-down button.
- Sherry, a cancer survivor and mother of three - Treatments made it unbearable for Sherry to work which meant bills began to pile up. Her local food pantry helped keep food on the table for the whole family and provide the nutrition she needed to get better. Now healthier, Sherry volunteers at her local food pantry.
- "I worked my whole life on a farm but since I was a farm wife I never put anything into social security." Donna talks about her struggles when her husband passed away unexpectedly and how utilizing a food pantry helps her purchase needed medication.
- Larry, an 82 year old father, continues to care for his disabled child and feed his family thanks his local food pantry. He even finds the time to give back and volunteer at that pantry that helps him.
Most of us look around seeing the fields of corn and soy beans and wonder, "how can people be going hungry here in the Midwest?" Sherry, Donna, Larry, and many others help shed light on the issue of hunger and food insecurity in Siouxland. In the 11 county service area of the Food Bank of Siouxland, there are over 25,000 food insecure individuals, including nearly 11,000 hungry children! With rising costs of living, so many are either living on edge of poverty daily or have been pushed over that edge due unexpected medical bills, car repairs, and more.
With YOUR support, we can help the Sherrys, Donnas, and Larrys of Siouxland. With a distribution of over 2.5 million pound of food this fiscal year, your support is needed more than ever! Our goal is to raise $7,500 through the Big Give "Fighting Hunger...Nourishing Siouxland" campaign. That equates to 97,500 pounds of food to help hungry families. Every dollar counts. Every dollar equates to 13 pounds of food for those in need. Please give knowing you are helping neighbors, friends, and family.
Good nutrition is our top priority ... the top two food categories distributed are meat and produce thanks to our focus on providing necessary proteins and fresh produce to those faced with hunger.
View the full "Voices of Hunger" brochure here: https://siouxlandfoodbank.org/about-2/voices-of-hunger/