Founded in 1984, The Idaho Foodbank is now the largest statewide distributor of free food assistance in Idaho. The nonprofit distributed more than 18.6 million meals to Idahoans in its most recent fiscal year alone.
But The Idaho Foodbank is about more than providing meals. Realizing the crucial connection between hunger and health, The Idaho Foodbank focuses on nutritious food while also working with community organizations to promote nutrition education, wellness tools and healthy living.
The Murdock Trust is grateful to be able to support organizations like The Idaho Foodbank in their mission to help ensure no individual or family goes hungry in the Pacific Northwest. In March, the Trust awarded the Foodbank a $700,000 grant to renovate a large, new warehouse in Meridian that the Foodbank acquired in 2020. The warehouse is the Foodbank’s largest facility, allowing the nonprofit to quadruple the amount of food it distributes every year statewide, a resource that was of immediate use as food insecurity skyrocketed due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The Idaho Foodbank also aims to use its new facility to help people move from hunger to health. In addition to serving as a distribution facility, complete with a 10,000-square-foot refrigerator, the new warehouse includes office space, a volunteer center and a teaching kitchen to give Idahoans the tools and education needed to create healthy and affordable meals.
