With more people out of work, and so many children home from school, the need for help from the River Bend Foodbank is greater than ever. Based in Davenport, it supplies food to food pantries, meal sites, and soup kitchens in 23 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois.
President and CEO Mike Miller says his greatest need right now is money because the pandemic has pushed his costs way up.
"Because we're having to pre-package food - we're packing food boxes so you have to buy that box, we're doing more deliveries rather than pickups, and we're having to buy food."
Usually a lot of volunteers help the Foodbank, but he's had to tell them to stay home for now to protect the health of his full-time staff of 36.
"Out of 300 food pantries across 23 counties I know of seven that have shut their doors during this crisis and the rest are all continuing to get food out to people in need."
Donations can be made at the River Bend Foodbank's website, but he's also asking potential volunteers to register, thinking that if the pandemic lasts very long, his staff may not be able to keep up the pace.
