Dear Hunger Relief Partners, As we step into the vibrant season of renewal, it’s time to shake off the winter frost and embrace the spirit of spring! With blossoms blooming and days growing longer, we’re not only welcoming a change in weather but also ushering in fresh opportunities for growth and collaboration in our mission to alleviate hunger. In the spirit of spring cleaning, we’re excited to share some reminders to help streamline operations and enhance impact: Staffing Updates: Many of you have sprouted some new faces in your team garden! Please ensure that all staff members, bo ..read more

When we say we can’t do what we do without our dedicated, hard-working volunteers, we aren’t exaggerating. Last year, volunteers donated more than 129,500 hours, equal to 62 full-time employees. That’s a 22% increase in volunteer hours over the previous year — a truly incredible gift of time, energy, and compassion. We are so grateful to all our volunteers who choose to spend their valuable time furthering our cause of igniting the power of community to end hunger, and each year select individual volunteers and groups to honor for their gift. This year’s volunteer award recipients are: 2024 B ..read more

In the United States, one in five kids live in households experiencing food insecurity and are at risk of malnutrition. / Photo by Caitlyn Barnett Resolving malnutrition in children is one of the greatest global health challenges currently posed to world leaders. This condition, characterized by insufficient or inadequate intake of nourishing food, is the leading cause of childhood mortality in many low- and middle-income countries, especially for children under five years of age. In the United States, one in five children — around 13 million — live in households experiencing food insecurity a ..read more

  Dear Hunger Relief Partners, My name is Max Chavez, and I am one of the culturally responsive representatives at Food Bank of the Rockies. My role focuses on understanding the cultural diversity of our service area, including our neighbors served and the partner organizations that support them. As spring continues and the trees begin to sprout their buds, I want to offer our Hunger Relief Partners, their staff, and volunteers the opportunity to grow their knowledge and gain more insights of the experiences neighbors around them may face when interacting with hunger relief organizations ..read more

Rachel Bailey is one of USA TODAY’s Women of the Year, a recognition of women who have made a significant impact in their communities and across the country. Meet all of this year’s honorees at womenoftheyear.usatoday.com. Rachel Bailey, the Executive Director of Food Bank of Wyoming, had seen the world working in marketing, but her values brought her home to Wyoming to help the people of her home state. “I just wanted to kind of shift my focus and kind of be able to contribute to a community based on my values and the values of that community,” Bailey said. “It came from a desire of wan ..read more

Neighbors at Clayton Cares Market, a Hunger Relief Partner of Food Bank of the Rockies. Photo Credit: Scott Dressel Dear Hunger Relief Partners, I want to start off with introductions. I am Elizabeth, the Home Delivery Coordinator for Food Bank of the Rockies. I work closely with our Everyday Eats and Food for Health programs. Both programs help serve our neighbors that fall into vulnerable populations, like older adults and medically sensitive individuals. This means a higher probability of working with neighbors who are homebound and unable to drive. My role consists of scheduling and overse ..read more

Dear Western Slope Hunger Relief Partners, Have you heard of the five love languages? According to author Gary Chapman, many people express love through quality time, words of affirmation, gifts, physical touch, or acts of service. For me, food encompasses all five. Whether I’m flipping through faded cookbooks with my mom, complimenting my brother’s signature sriracha salmon, baking funfetti cookies for my best friend on her birthday, stretching pizza dough beside my partner, or connecting neighbors experiencing food insecurity with reliable nourishment, food is my love language. In my role a ..read more

By Sharon Sullivan  Kathey Swisher arrives at Food Bank of the Rockies Western Slope Etkin Family Distribution Center in Grand Junction by 6:00 a.m. to begin the process of creating nutritious fruit snacks that end up in weekend food bags for kids experiencing hunger. As the dehydration operations lead for the Food Bank, Swisher ensures that donated fresh fruit doesn’t go to waste.   Swisher and two or three volunteers — who come in a little later — rinse, slice, and prep large quantities of peaches, apples, pears, and other fruits before placing everything on dehydrator trays ..read more

While data points can only tell a fraction of a story, numbers from 2023 speak loudly to the state of food insecurity in the communities we serve. Last year, Food Bank of the Rockies distributed enough food to provide the daily equivalent of more than 196,000 meals. That’s an 8% increase over the previous year and the highest amount we’ve distributed since 2021, at the height of the pandemic. This increase in distributed food mirrors what we’re seeing nationally. In October, the USDA released its annual study measuring food security in the U.S. and revealed that food insecurity across the na ..read more

Food Bank of the Rockies is teaming up with Auguste Escoffier School of Culinary Arts on a new collaboration, offering culinary students a unique opportunity to make a difference in children’s lives while gaining valuable experience in the kitchen. As part of this innovative partnership, students will actively participate in volunteer work at Food Bank of the Rockies through externship opportunities. They will engage in training sessions, attend class excursions to learn from the Food Bank’s culinary team about daily operations, and assist in meal preparation in the kitchen. To mark the launc ..read more