High Plains Food Bank's Impact >>

Here's how High Plains Food Bank works >>

Find HPFB's most recent W-9 here.

2016 Annual Report

The mission of High Plains Food Bank is to alleviate hunger in the Texas Panhandle. Founded in 1982, High Plains Food Bank (HPFB) is a nonprofit organization serving as the clearing house for collection, storage, and distribution of donated and purchased grocery products, providing aide to the top 29 counties in the Texas Panhandle. HPFB partners with over 175 different agencies, including churches, senior centers, child care facilities, halfway houses, soup kitchens, Kids Cafes, emergency pantries, shelters, and other nonprofits. Counties in our 30,000 square mile service area include Armstrong, Briscoe, Carson, Castro, Childress, Collingsworth, Cottle, Dallam, Deaf Smith, Donley, Gray, Hale, Hall, Hansford, Hardeman, Hartley, Hemphill, Hutchinson, Lipscomb, Moore, Ochiltree, Oldham, Parmer, Potter, Randall, Roberts, Sherman, Swisher, and Wheeler.

Many families in the Texas Panhandle are food insecure, or truly make choices between paying utilities or buying food each month. HPFB can provide 5 meals worth of food for every dollar donated, in part due to our membership with Feeding America and their nationwide partnerships. Other sources of donated food include the USDA’s Emergency Food Assistance Program, local food drives, grocery stores, processing plants, and individual donors. Additionally, HPFB purchases food to supplement the warehouse supply in order to provide a variety of foods high in nutritional value. HPFB accepts donations and make recurring giving easy through our secure web page: hpfb.org/donate. The need is real, and your help is vital.

Kids Cafe

Kids Cafe is a program of Feeding America offered by High Plains Food Bank to at-risk children in our service area in need of daily, healthy meals. Kids Cafe confronts childhood hunger and obesity by providing meals that follow USDA recommended nutritional guidelines. For many children in the Texas Panhandle, the meal provided through Kids Cafe is a daily nutritious dinner they may otherwise go without.

Kids Cafe meals are prepared and delivered using today’s highest quality standards. Meals are provided to all children without charge, and are the same for all children regardless of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Dates and times of our Kids Cafe sites can be found on our website at hpfb.org/kids-cafe.

The Garden

The Garden is an urban farm that serves as a community classroom used to teach such topics as gardening basics and nutrition education. Utilizing strategic ecosystems, the Garden maximizes the use of each resource, providing a practical and sustainable model for individual gardeners to follow.

The Garden focuses on community outreach, equipping students, apartment residents, and homeowners alike with the training needed to grow fresh, healthy food on a budget. Find education and volunteer opportunities by visiting: hpfb.org/the-garden.

Contact High Plains Food Bank: www.hpfb.org, 806.374.8562

815 Ross Street, Amarillo, TX 79102

Facebook.com/highplainsfoodbank

Twitter: @hpfoodbank or Instagram: hpfoodbank

Non-Discrimination Statement

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA's TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

2014 is our most recent hunger study data available. More information below:

The 2014 Hunger Study is complete, here are the results: Download Report

Here is the Executive Summary

We exist to alleviate hunger in The Panhandle. We do this in many different ways.

First, we provide food, a basic need. We delivered 6.2 million pounds of food in 2011 to the 29 counties we serve. This is a tangible way you can see what we are doing at the Food Bank. It has been a long-standing tradition since our inception to deliver shelf-stable and fresh foods to the people that need them. We distribute the food through our over 165 agencies that work hand in hand with us to pinpoint need in their communities. We deliver this basic need to people who need help getting back on their feet.

Second, we help people through the sometimes confusing process of applying for food stamps. This is a service we provide in order to keep as many as possible from facing food insecurity. The problem of not knowing what resources are available is not a reason anyone should go hungry. But we don't stop there, we help parents with applications for many programs available for their children including CHiPS. This is a tool that we are proud to offer, because the end benefit is having the resources to ensure your family is taken care of.

Thirdly, we educate the public on making healthy inexpensive food choices for their families. We teach children and adults about nutrition and why it's important to eat wisely. If we just delivered food to families, we would only meet the current need, but because we teach them how to choose healthy completely affordable options, we are able to give them the resources to sustain themselves. That is our initiative; teaching others to fish, while providing them with the fish they need right now.

Some day very soon, we hope there will not be a person who struggles with food insecurity. Until that day, we will help alleviate hunger in The Panhandle.

Hunger in the High Plains:

Map the Meal Gap: a study that shows how many food insecure individuals live in the 29 counties serviced by the High Plains Food Bank. More information here.

Childhood Food Insecurity: The further breakdown of the Map the Meal Gap that shows the rates of food insecurity for children (birth- 18 years). The study concludes that 1 in 4 children are food insecure. More information here .

WHAT IS THE HIGH PLAINS FOOD BANK?

A non-profit organization that collects and distributes donated, surplus food to agencies in the Texas Panhandle
Covering over 30,000 square miles of the Texas Panhandle
In 2010, we distributed 7.2 million pounds of food, the biggest year ever.
The Food Bank distributes over 650,000 pounds of food each month on average!
The mission of the High Plains Food Bank is to Alleviate Hunger in the Panhandle

IS THERE A NEED FOR SUCH AN ORGANIZATION IN THE PANHANDLE?

Over 69,500 people in our area live near or below the poverty level, as much as 70% of their income goes towards housing expenses and prescriptions for the elderly, leaving them short of food and hungry

HOW DOES THE FOOD BANK HELP SOLVE THE PROBLEM OF HUNGER?

Serves as a central clearinghouse for efficient handling of available surplus food
Collects, sorts and distributes available food to agencies that then provide food to individuals, children, elderly, and handicapped in need

WHERE DOES THE SURPLUS FOOD COME FROM?

Local and national manufacturers, wholesalers, grocery stores and restaurants

Local ranchers and feedlot operators

WHY IS THIS FOOD DONATED?
It is food that can't be sold. A can may be dented, one egg of a dozen is broken, expiration date is close or the food has been prepared and unserved, yet it is still wholesome food when properly handled

Form 990