About Us: The Great Plains Food Bank’s mission is to end hunger together. We are the largest hunger-relief organization in North Dakota and serve as its only food bank. Each year, we touch the lives of one in six individuals who seek emergency food assistance.
What We Do: We strive to end hunger effectively and efficiently – where waste is unacceptable. This means working with a wide array of individuals and organizations on a daily basis, carefully guiding all donated surplus food and grocery products to our network of food pantries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters and other charitable feeding programs serving those who are hungry and homeless. As strong stewards of community support, we direct 96 percent of all donations received toward programs and services, ensuring food for three meals gets into the hands of those who are hungry for every dollar donated.
How We Do It: Community partners are imperative to our work in ending hunger. We work with hundreds of food industry donors and charitable feeding programs, and thousands of volunteers and financial supporters. Together, we are creating hunger-free communities. Operations are based out of our 36,000 square foot statewide distribution facility in Fargo and our Bismarck regional service center and supported by a fleet of refrigerated trucks that travel half a million miles each year criss-crossing the state picking up and delivering shelf-stable and perishable food donations to those in need. Our team consists of nearly 50 staff and more than 5,000 volunteers. We believe ending hunger is a shared responsibility, and the right thing to do. We invite you to join us.
GREAT PLAINS FOOD BANK HISTORY
With the help of a community task force, the Greater Fargo-Moorhead Area Food Bank opened its doors on March 22, 1983, recovering 189,000 pounds of surplus product from the food industry and distributing it to a network of 21 feeding programs in the Fargo-Moorhead community serving the hungry and homeless in its first year of operation.
The program was renamed the Great Plains Food Bank after just 15 months to reflect a growing service area and rising food donations. As the need for services continued to grow, innovative programs to recover surplus meals and perishable foods, fresh produce, surplus new children’s clothing, rural outreach services in underserved communities, and targeted programs to tackle childhood hunger were added.
Today, with the help of hundreds of food donors and thousands of volunteers and financial supporters, the Great Plains Food Bank distributes over 15 million pounds of food to more than 300 charitable feeding programs operating in 100 communities across North Dakota and Clay County, Minnesota.
CLICK HERE TO READ MORE ABOUT THE HISTORY OF THE GREAT PLAINS FOOD BANK.
