DAVENPORT, IA – River Bend Food Bank is partnering with food pantries in five Iowa counties to distribute thousands of food boxes to kids during the summer school break. The state-funded Healthy Kids Iowa program provides one box of food per child to eligible
families in June, July and August.

River Bend Food Bank Vice President Jenny Colvin said warehouse volunteers have been busy packing boxes with shelf-stable milk, fruit cups, pasta, peanut butter, jelly and other items. When families pick up boxes at one of the partnering food pantries, they also receive produce and meat as part of the program.

Media opportunity: Media are invited to attend a volunteer box packing session at 9:30 a.m. Thursday, July 17, at River Bend Food Bank, 4010 Kimmel Drive, Davenport, Iowa. Please RSVP to Nicole Lauer, Marketing & Communications Strategist,
nlauer@riverbendfoodbank.org or 563-345-6490, ext. 2100.

“Helping families access healthy food over summer breaks is crucial to our mission,” said Colvin. “Healthy Kids Iowa launched in June and we want to get the word out to all eligible families so that they can have the food they need while school is not in session.”
Colvin said River Bend Food Bank is partnering with 22 food sites in Iowa to distribute the food boxes through Aug. 22.

“River Bend Food Bank and its pantry partners expect to impact 6,000 kids through this program,” she said. “We were given limited time to launch this project, which included sourcing the food and identifying partners with the capacity to distribute food. We want
Iowa families to get the most out of Healthy Kids Iowa before the summer ends.”

Colvin said families do not need to register for the program. Children ages 4 to 18 are eligible to participate. Qualifying households must meet the federal poverty level of 185% or lower or must have already self-attested to eligibility for The Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP).