ABOUT
FOOD BANK OF
SIOUXLAND
MISSION & HISTORY.
The Food Bank of Siouxland is the main food supplier for nonprofit agencies in Siouxland, including food pantries, homeless shelters, soup kitchens, residential facilities, daycare, and senior centers. We were established to provide a year-round source of food to these organizations.
Currently, the Food Bank of Siouxland provides food to approximately 100 member agencies in eleven counties in the Siouxland area. These agencies are spread across our region — in Iowa: Woodbury, Ida, Monona, Crawford, Plymouth, Cherokee, Sioux, and Lyon counties; and in Nebraska: Dakota, Thurston, and Burt counties.
The Food Bank of Siouxland, Inc. began as an all-volunteer organization known as the Tri-State Food Bank and became incorporated in 1991. We received our 501(c)3 status in 1994. In July 2000, we changed our name to “Food Bank of Siouxland, Inc.” – putting “Food” first!
We were founded to serve community charities in Siouxland with feeding programs to nourish those in need, the ill, and children. We continue to that cause today. As a warehouse, we are able to leverage our resources to supply food and other essentials to over 100 member agencies that directly serve families in need.
FROM WASTE TO RESOURCE.
Each year, about 20 percent of America’s food supply – 140 million tons of food valued at more than $31 billion – goes to waste. Food suppliers often wish to donate food, but the quantity or timing is beyond the capacity or need of any single organization. As a clearinghouse for donated food, the Food Bank of Siouxland forms a partnership with the food industry by collecting, inspecting, sorting, and distributing food to member agencies (food pantries), which provide food directly to those in need.
Most of the food comes from the food industry. Often, the reason is overproduction or inventory control. Other reasons include packaging errors, changes in product formulas, the expiration of coupons, or approaching sell-by dates. The United States Department of Agriculture donates commodities, while the public, through numerous community food drives, also donate food to the Food Bank of Siouxland.
Major companies, such as General Mills, Nabisco, and Kraft, donate enormous quantities of food to Feeding America, the national network of food banks. The Food Bank of Siouxland’s link to that network is the Food Bank for the Heartland in Omaha, a member of Feeding America.
