When I attended college, I can always remember being hungry. My stomach would growl in any class, day or night. In addition, I struggled daily to stay within my personal budget, work hours at my job and maintain a full-time class schedule at college. This is a normal picture for many college students. I believe this is an age group that goes overlooked in our battle against hunger and food insecurity. More and more college students are seeking assistance through our partner agencies each day. We also see the requests come through the food bank's doors on a daily basis.  [more]

In July 2010, we reached a new record, one that made us uneasy about the future needs of this area. We were happy that we had the resources in place to distribute 740,000 pounds that month. We quickly realized we were paving new territory for our organization. We also realized that regardless of what the economists were saying, people were feeling the pinch and the sting of not being able to make ends meet. We heard countless stories from people who had to decide between putting the last $5 they had in gas to get to work, or put food on the table for their family.  [more]

Hidden Hunger. This is an issue the High Plains Food Bank has seen tremendously increase over the past two years. In our own minds, we all can draw a mental picture of hunger (such as those who may be homeless). However, what about your neighbor, your friends or the person standing in the line next to you in the grocery store? Did you know that these people around you could be food insecure? [more]