WATERLOO, IOWA — The Northeast Iowa Food Bank is closing in on a $14 million fundraising goal aimed at expanding its capacity to fight food insecurity across the region, as demand for assistance continues to rise.
The project would increase the food bank’s ability to serve its 16-county area. Plans include more food storage and receiving space, additional cooler and freezer capacity, an expanded kitchen and more room for volunteers.
The food bank says the expansion would also help it better serve its 125 partner agencies and meet longer-term needs across northeast Iowa.
“As we assess the need for what’s happening in the community and look at that need, we know we need to serve people in different ways, whether it’s providing meals to kids after school, whether it’s providing more fruits and vegetables so people who don’t have a lot of food can have access to that,” said Barbara Prather, executive director of the Northeast Iowa Food Bank. “We really assess what we do and then how do we meet the need in the long term.”
The food bank said it provided roughly 8 million meals last year to people facing food insecurity, a 28% increase from the previous fiscal year.
Prather said the organization hopes to eventually provide close to 12 million meals annually, which would require more storage space, particularly for perishable food.
“Over time, our goal is to get to close to 12 million meals back to the community. So, over time, adding about 50% more food to the community,” Prather said. “Doubling the size of the cooler and freezer will help that because more and more of our product is perishable. Right now, it’s about 60% of our inventory, and I only see that growing.”
The food bank also points to programs such as its community garden as part of its effort to increase access to fresh food.
“It depends on the year, but we harvest between ten and twelve thousand pounds of produce out of there and all of it goes back to our food pantry,” Prather said. “Trying to meet people where they’re at, assessing our service area for where the gaps are, and identifying programs that can move forward so people throughout northeast Iowa have access to food.”
More information on how to contribute to the capacity campaign is available at Northeast Iowa Food.
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