Q. What is the Food Bank of Delaware?
A. Founded in 1981, the Food Bank of Delaware provides food for food-insecure Delawareans. We solicit, collect, purchase and warehouse food from farmers, manufacturers, brokers, wholesalers, retailers and others in the food industry and redistribute it to partners that provide free food to the hungry. In addition to our partnerships, we also distribute food through home delivery partnerships, mobile pantries and food pantries at our Newark and Milford facilities. We take a multi-pronged approach to alleviating hunger. We also offer workforce training programs, financial coaching, nutrition education and benefits outreach.
Q. Where is the Food Bank of Delaware located?
A. The Food Bank of Delaware is headquartered in Newark, Delaware (222 Lake Drive, Pencader Corporate Complex) with a second location in Milford (102 Delaware Veterans Blvd.) to serve Kent and Sussex Counties.
Q. How does the Food Bank of Delaware help hungry Delawareans?
A. We provide food and resources through a network of 578 partners. Our partners include food pantries, shelter or residential programs, social service agencies, emergency soup kitchens, children’s nutrition programs, schools and neighborhood and church distribution programs who reach low-income people in need.
Q. How does the Food Bank of Delaware get food?
A. Food manufacturers, wholesalers, retailers, farmers and food distributors donate millions of pounds of food and other grocery products to the Food Bank of Delaware each year. Our fleet of trucks travel throughout the state to pick up food from donors. Commercial trucks also haul in donations from food industry donors in the region and across the country that are tapped through Feeding America. Food industry donors make a variety of packaged, canned, perishable, and non-perishable foods, including poultry, pasta, cereal, produce, snacks and beverages, available to feed Delaware’s hungry. The Food Bank also receives food through generous individual community donors and groups, businesses and organizations that hold food drives throughout the year.
In order to ensure a consistent supply of certain food staples, the Food Bank of Delaware purchases food in large volumes.
Q. How is food distributed to hungry Delawareans?
A. When truckloads of donated food arrives at the Food Bank of Delaware, the food is unloaded, weighed, sorted, boxed, inventoried and added to a menu of items for our hunger-relief partners to order from. Partners can also come to the Food Bank of Delaware to pick up or delivery is also available. Food is also distributed to the community through a variety of programs including Backpack, Mobile Pantry, Senior Nutrition, Healthy Pantry Centers and more.
Q. How much food is distributed?
A. We distributed more than 17 million pounds of food last year.
Q. Where does the Food Bank of Delaware get its funding from?
A. We receive funding from a variety of generous funders: foundations, state and federal government, corporations, small businesses and individuals
Q. How do I hold a food drive?
A. Holding a food drive is a fun way to get involved in helping hungry Delawareans. Food drives can take place in person or virtually! Click here to learn more.
Q. How can I become a hunger-relief partner?
A. Visit our potential hunger-relief partner page by clicking here.