The most recent government data shows that 50.4 million people (16%) are in poverty, including 17 million children (33%) under the age of 18. 41.2 million people, including 6.5 million children, live in households that lack the means to get enough nutritious food regularly. As a result, they struggle with hunger at least once a year.

Helping local food charities

Hunger and food insecurity are significant problems facing our communities. At Midwest Food Bank, we know that local food pantries are some of the most important community service programs a town can provide. If you are fortunate enough to be in a stable environment to assist those in need right now, any and all support is appreciated more than ever.

Who does Midwest Food Bank help?

Our organization has been fortunate enough to experience the joy of providing nutritious meals to over 1,500,000 people across the globe. By partnering with over 2,200 local agencies, our original mission of feeding hungry people in Central Illinois has far been surpassed. Today, approximately half of the food needed by our agency partners is provided by our distributions.

We serve counties across Alabama, Arkansas, Arizona, California, Connecticut, Florida, Georgia, Iowa, Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Louisiana, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Texas, and Tennessee. In recent years, we’ve expanded those efforts to help feed people as they recover from disasters in East Africa and Haiti.

Nonprofit agencies we partner with include:

• Food Pantries
• Soup Kitchens
• Homeless Shelters
• Residential Programs
• Child Feeding Programs  

Learn about some of the agency partners MFB supports:

Who receives food from local food pantries?

Poverty does not strike all demographics equally. You may wonder what type of people are most affected by poverty and who is benefiting from your generous donations. The following statistics come from information supplied by our nonprofit agency partners.

Age Demographics:

• 27% are children 0-12 years of age
• 48% are 13-64 years of age
• 19% are seniors aged 65+

Ethnicity Demographics:

• 35% are Caucasian
• 29% are African American
• 20% are Hispanic 
• 16% identify as mixed-race or other

Learn about the impact of Midwest Food Bank from our food recipients: 

“Our hope is to help bridge the gap between prosperity and poverty in our community.”

–David Kieser, Founder, and National Board President

If you are a nonprofit agency or food pantry that would like help from Midwest Food Bank, we've made it easy to start the conversation with an online interest form. We look forward to hearing from you.