WHO IS HUNGRY
River Bend Food Bank is the largest hunger-relief organization in eastern Iowa and western Illinois, distributing over 20 MILLION meals every year to people struggling with hunger. Our mission is to lead the community-wide effort to end hunger in Iowa and Illinois. We do this through food distribution in partnership with our network of more than 300 partner agencies (food pantries, meal sites, schools, and community organizations).
In our 23-county service area in 2021:
- 115,750 people are food insecure—they don’t know where their next meal is coming from.
- 24,984,247 meals are being missed, not by choice.
- 1 in 7 adults are missing meals, not by choice.
- 1 in 4 children (35,060) are missing meals, not by choice.
- 63% of these people are choosing between medical care and food.
- 62% of these people are choosing between housing and food.
- 81% of these people choose the cheapest food available regardless of its nutritional value.
- 40% of these people water down their food to stretch their food supply.
