Iowa Food Bank Association

The mission of the Iowa Food Bank Association is to coordinate efforts to alleviate hunger by supporting Feeding America food banks that serve Iowa.

The Iowa Food Bank Association (IFBA) is a collaboration of the eight Feeding America food banks that serve all Iowa?s 99 counties. Together, the food banks serve over 1,000 non-profit organizations serving ill, infant or needy individuals. These organizations include food pantries, emergency meal sites, congregational meal sites, emergency shelters, and other sites that provide food to clients. As an association, the organization is coordinating efforts to alleviate hunger by supporting Feeding America food banks that serve Iowa. The Iowa Food Bank Association (IFBA) was formed in 2009 by the Executive Directors of the eight Feeding America food banks that serve Iowa. It was created as a way for the food banks to collaborate in order to make hunger relief more effective and efficient within the state. It is also a way for food banks to have a stronger voice at the state level, and become more involved in advocacy. Feeding America has charged state associations with focusing on three areas: advocacy, food and fund procurement, and disaster relief. The association hired a full time State Director in May of 2010, and has begun work in these three areas of interest. Executive Directors of the eight food banks meet regularly, and the State Director is finding ways for their respective food banks to collaborate on multiple efforts to better serve the State of Iowa. Although the Iowa Food Bank Association is new, the eight food banks have been working on hunger relief efforts in Iowa for decades. The Executive Directors' expertise in the field makes the newly formed association the key agency to spearhead hunger relief efforts in the state. The State Director has already begun to develop relationships with key government agencies, and has secured the food banks' place in the state SNAP outreach plan for fiscal year 2011. This means that food banks will have the State Department of Human Services and the Federal Food and Nutrition Service supporting them in a new initiative to make applying for SNAP more easily accessible to clients of emergency feeding organizations.