The Rhode Island Community Food Bank distributes food to people in need through a statewide network of 140 member agencies including food pantries, meal sites, shelters, youth programs and senior centers.
Throughout the pandemic, the Food Bank has continued to serve more than 63,000 Rhode Islanders each month through our network of member agencies.
The Food Bank solicits food donations from the public and from the food industry, including supermarkets, food manufacturers and growers. To keep up with the high demand for food assistance, the Food Bank also purchases food at a low cost from wholesalers. Last year, the Food Bank distributed 15 million pounds of food.
Equipped with a 77,000-square-foot facility, a fleet of trucks and a professional staff, the Food Bank safely and efficiently solicits, collects, stores and distributes large quantities of food from many sources. Every week, the Food Bank moves more than 225,000 pounds of food out its doors to agencies that directly serve Rhode Islanders in need.
To find the nearest member agency of the Food Bank, click here. For information on food assistance and a variety of other services available to Rhode Islanders in need, call the United Way Hotline at 2-1-1.
During the pandemic, Rhode Island experienced the highest level of food insecurity recorded in 20 years. According to the 2021 RI Life Index, an initiative of Blue Cross & Blue Shield of Rhode Island and the Brown University School of Public Health, 18.4 percent of households were worried about having adequate food.
Racial and ethnic disparities were evident in access to food, as 34 percent of Black and Latinx households were food insecure compared to 14.2 percent of White households.
*Data from the 2019 Hunger Survey, a collaborative effort between the Rhode Island Community Food Bank and the Hassenfeld Child Health Innovation Institute at Brown University, identifying demographic details of households impacted by hunger in Rhode Island.
The Food Bank is committed to providing nutritious food. Currently, 90 percent of the food distributed is considered “core food”– healthy foods, including vegetables and fruits, bread, grains, protein, beans and dairy, which can be used to prepare a nutritious meal for a family. Of the 15.1 million pounds of food distributed by the Food Bank last year, over 2.5 million pounds was fresh produce.
The Food Bank is a private, nonprofit organization located in Providence, RI. It is governed by a Board of Directors, elected annually by the Food Bank’s member agencies. The Food Bank is affiliated with Feeding America, the national food bank organization. The Food Bank is funded primarily by gifts from individuals, corporate donations, foundation grants and some government funding.
To review our complete Financial Statement, click here.
