According to NPR News, one-quarter of U.S. households experienced a shortage of food on their tables in 2020. That rate is more than double pre-pandemic numbers. Siouxland Public Media’s Sheila Brummer has details on a federal program providing help for hundreds locally.
A food giveaway in Sioux City on Thursday morning highlighted the issue of food insecurity in the community.
“It’s been a really challenging year-and-a-half for a lot of families people in Siouxland. Events like this are proof of the challenges of the ongoing pandemic. So, we are grateful to help people who need it most and be able to put food on their table tonight.”
That’s Kim Wilson, Chief Development Officer of the Community Action Agency of Siouxland, one group that helped distribute almost 1,000 boxes of food through the USDA’s “Food to Families” program at Sunnybrook Church.
“This is Community Action Agency’s third time doing this in the past month. We have given out almost 3,500 boxes away to families in Siouxland. We have been grateful to the Hope Center at Sunnybrook Church, Iowa State Extension and Out Reach, and all our volunteers who have made this giveaway successful.”
Volunteers handed out a majority of the boxes in 15 minutes on Thursday.
“We gave them out to the public and non-profits and churches so those groups could give them out to the people they serve.”
The “Food to Families” giveaway program ends nationally on May 31st. It provided temporary, emergency relief through the pandemic.
* Photos courtesy of the Community Action Agency.
