Food Bank of the Rockies is making huge strides toward combating food insecurity in Wyoming and Colorado, providing enough food for 196,000 meals every day. King Soopers and City Market have supported this organization through the Fight Hunger bag program.
Tell us about Food Bank of the Rockies.
Food Bank of the Rockies was founded in 1978. At that time, founder Kathy Hackwith Groth was collecting bread that was about to be discarded and delivering it to neighbors in need. Through her work, she was able to get more and more food into households that needed it most. She also worked to pass Colorado’s Good Samaritan Law to protect establishments that donate food in good faith.
So, we started with this model of sustainability centered around the idea of making sure any surplus, quality food went to people who could use it. This was the start of the Food Bank, and from there, it’s grown and evolved into an organization with a culture of abundance and possibility. Our current mission is to ignite the power of community to nourish people facing hunger. Food Bank of the Rockies works with over 800 Hunger Relief Partners throughout all of Wyoming and roughly half of Colorado to meet the need for food assistance. We are the largest hunger-relief organization in the Rockies and have the largest service area of any Feeding America food bank in the contiguous United States.
To do our work, we rely on partnerships and collaboration. Beyond our Hunger Relief Partners, we have a network of food rescue partners, including King Soopers and City Market and its parent company, Kroger. In fact, more than half of our inventory is donated food; Kroger alone donates more than 5 million pounds of food to us annually. These collaborations ensure people will get not only the food they need but also the food they want. Not every community member wants the same type of food. So, we try to bring people foods that are both nourishing and familiar. For example, we source dry beans, rice, tortillas, masa flour, dragon fruit, and fresh pineapples for our Latino community members. Our goal is to focus on fresh and culturally responsive food.
These collaborations ensure people will get not only the food they need but also the food they want.
What services do you provide to the community?
Food Bank of the Rockies provides enough food for 196,000 meals every day through several signature programs. First, we have more than 70 mobile pantries that travel across Wyoming and Colorado to areas where people in need might not have access to grocery stores or affordable, high-quality food. We participate in Everyday Eats, a national and state program, to provide food to income-eligible older adults. Through this program, we have sites for participants to pick up food boxes and, in certain counties, we also deliver food boxes to older adults who are homebound.
Food Bank of the Rockies provides enough food for 196,000 meals every day through several signature programs.
Our Food for Kids Program provides children with nutritious food after school and during summer months at various meal sites. To ensure these kids are able to get a good meal, we partner with the Boys & Girls Club and other community organizations and schools. Additionally, we have a weekend food bag program called Totes of Hope™. This program provides kids with 7-9 pounds of food for the weekend – enough to make a full meal for a family of four, plus nourishing snacks. In addition to food, these bags include recipe cards to encourage kids to cook with their families.
We also have various programs made possible through our network of Hunger Relief Partners. There’s no way that we, as one organization, would be able to reach so many people, but through the support of our Hunger Relief Partners, we reach every pocket of need.
What sets Food Bank of the Rockies apart from other hunger relief organizations in your community?
A lot of our work is large-scale, similar to a grocery store or retail partner. Because of our scale, we have an immense amount of purchasing power. This means we’re able to purchase pallets and truckloads of food to keep costs down. We’re also able to leverage our partnerships with retail partners like King Soopers and City Market through our Food Rescue Program. Anytime there’s a surplus amount of quality food, we have the capacity to take it and distribute it to our many Hunger Relief Partners. Together, with our partners, we are all in the ecosystem of hunger relief, and our organization acts as the bridge between resources.
Tell us a story that illustrates the good work of your organization.
Going out to our mobile pantry distributions and meeting people has been amazing. I was at a food distribution recently where we had items like masa flour and corn husks. These ingredients ensure families in the community can make familiar items, such as tamales.
After seeing the items, one mother shared with me what food means to her. She said, “Food is love. It’s sharing meals and being together.” Her family was struggling with the increase in inflation, so their monthly food budget was only stretching so far. Getting those unique items and knowing she could prepare a meal her family loves meant so much to her.
We all have to pay rent, medical bills, utilities, and so much more each month. So, food ends up being the place where people who are struggling have to cut costs. It was so moving to see her come to our mobile pantry and get food that was both nutritious and meaningful to her and her family.
What is your most outstanding achievement or contribution to the community?
I am most appreciative of how everyone at Food Bank of the Rockies embodies our mission. We are all there day in and day out to ensure that people in our communities are nourished. Throughout the pandemic, we operated a frontline workforce nonstop because we knew people needed food.
We were able to be there to meet that need for food in our community during that critical time. We made sure everything was sanitized and socially distant to keep it as safe as possible for our staff and volunteers, who are our most valuable resource. I am proud that we were able to continue operating to meet the increased need.
What do you want people to know about Food Bank of the Rockies?
Our supporters and volunteers make the work we do possible. We have seen an increased need for food assistance ever since the pandemic – even now we’re seeing higher numbers of community members needing food due to things like high inflation and high cost of living. Nothing is back to how it was before COVID.
The only way we’re able to meet this increased need is through the support of community members. Through donating time and financial support, the community makes our work possible. They fuel everything we do. I am so grateful for every community member who adopts our mission and makes distributing food to our neighbors in need possible.
The only way we’re able to meet this increased need is through the support of community members.
How are you using the funds you’ve received from the King Soopers and City Market Fight Hunger bag program?
With times like these, our mobile pantries are serving more individuals than we were last year. Getting these funds is critical because we are now spending three-times as much every month on food compared to before the pandemic. The funds will support our mission and help us meet the increased need in our communities. Every $1 donation helps provide enough food for three meals.
Is there anything you’d like to add?
The only way to truly understand food banking is to come out and see it for yourself. I urge anyone interested in learning more about us to volunteer with us. To me, there is nothing more thrilling than seeing so many community members working side by side to get food out the door. It really is such a joyful experience. To anyone interested in learning more about Food Bank of the Rockies, visit our website to learn more about how we function in the landscape of hunger relief.
Interview with Aditi Desai, Chief Marketing Officer
Published June 13, 2024.