Your support makes a difference!
When you support the Food Bank with your time, talent or treasure, you are truly making a difference in the lives of your neighbors!
Join the fight!
Grab your colleagues and join the fight against hunger in our community by participating in the Corporate Food Fight. Now in its 16th year, the Corporate Food Fight challenges local businesses to raise food and funds for the Food Bank for Larimer County. The event runs the entire month of April, but each company designs their own campaign timeline. Some companies do a basic and simple food drive or have a food based event like a bake sale or chili cook-off – others get down-right creative and do things like executive tricycle races or have genuine food fights! Big or small, your business can make a huge impact on the fight against hunger in our community! To join the fight, contact Heather Buoniconti before April 1.
The 15th annual Corporate Food Fight raised nearly $120,000 and over 10,500 pounds of food! Thirty-two companies participated in our biggest fundraiser of the year. And in 15 years, the Food Fight has raised nearly $1 million for local hunger-relief programs.
These companies have already joined the fight!
Advantage Bank * Associates in Family Medicine * AMD * Avago Technologies * CA Techonologies * Clay Pot Creative * Constant Contact * Employment Solutions * Eye Center of Northern Colorado * FirstBank * First National Bank * First Tech Federal Credit Union – Fort Collins * First Tech Federal Credit Union – Loveland * First Western Trust * Flood and Peterson * Heska * HP * Intel * Liberty Tax Service * LPR Construction * Neenan Company * New Belgium Brewing * NVIDIA * Odell Brewing Company * Platte River Power Authority * PROSCI * University of Colorado Health * Versus Bank * Xcel Energy * Wells Fargo Advisors – Davis Management Group * Woodward
New! Host A Healthy Food Drive!
In honor of the nearly 36,000 Larimer County residents that lack access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life, the Food Bank places a high priority on providing nutritious food for our clients. We know more than ever about the link between food insecurity, poverty and diet related disease. Food insecurity in itself has serious health consequences for children as well as adults. Children from families that struggle with food insecurity are more likely to experience poor physical health and hospitalization, developmental delays, and often struggle in school. Furthermore, many of the risks of being food insecure are the same as those of becoming obese including limited resources; lack of access to healthy, affordable foods; cycles of deprivation and overeating; and high levels of stress. While the public health crises of obesity and diet related diseases affect all segments of the population, they disproportionately impact the communities we serve.
For three decades, countless groups have hosted food drives for our Food Bank. Community-sponsored fund and food drives are important sources of food for those we serve. To help us provide the most nutritious foods possible for our clients, we are encouraging the community to transform the traditional food drive to one focused on giving the gift of health.
Hosting A Healthy Food Drive Is Easy!
- Fill out the online Food Drive Application
- Print off Healthy Food Drive Poster(s) to promote your event. (PDF Format.)
- Schedule a time to pick up additional food drive materials (posters, barrels, boxes, etc.)Please note, due to resource constraints, we are only able to pick up food drives over 1,000 pounds (approximately 1,000 cans or 4+full barrels)
- Check above to the right for a list of most needed food items.
- Have fun!
Healthy Food Drive Items
- Peanut butter (non-hydrogenated oil)
- Canned meat/fish (chicken, salmon, tuna)
- Canned Fruit in Fruit Juice
- Whole grain, low sugar cereal
- Canned Soup (low sodium)
Cooper Home Culinary Club
In February, 
the Food Bank launched a new partnership with Poudre School District to host the “Cooper Home Culinary Club.” Cooper Home helps high school graduates, ages 18-21, transition into their next phase of life by providing opportunities to learn life skills in order to gain independence. Student services include: Job coaching; training in work-related skills; planning menus, grocery shopping and cooking; riding public transportation; and developing organizational skills.
According to Truman Solverud, Cooper Home’s Job Developer/Vocational Paraprofessional, “One of our primary [program] objectives is to help our students understand their role and context in the community in which they live – responsibility and citizenship. Working at the Food Bank helps our young adults transition from being helped to being the helper.” 
Young adults in the Culinary Club work at the Food Bank on Mondays and Wednesdays from 3-5:30 pm. Under the supervision of Food Bank kitchen staff, students learn food preparation, dishwashing, cleaning, portioning and recipe execution. In addition to gaining experience in a commercial kitchen, these students are helping the Food Bank provide meals and snacks for our child nutrition programs. Ultimately, the Culinary Club provides students with basic skills that they can apply to future employment.
“[This program allows] our students also gain valuable experience in the workplace to work towards employability which is an overwhelming challenge for individuals with disabilities in our community, with a national unemployment rate near 85%,” added Truman.
National Nutrition Month
March is National Nutrition Month. In honor of the nearly 36,000 Larimer County residents that lack access, at times, to enough food for an active, healthy life, the Food Bank places a high priority on providing nutritious food for our clients. Food insecurity in itself has serious health consequences for children as well as adults. Children from families that struggle with food insecurity are more likely to experience poor physical health and hospitalization, developmental delays and often struggle in school. For adults, many of the risks of being food insecure are the same as those of becoming obese including limited resources; lack of access to healthy, affordable foods; cycles of deprivation and overeating; and high levels of stress.
In 2014, we distributed more than 3 million pounds of fresh produce. In combination with our work to source and distribute healthy foods, we are providing nutrition education to our clients through our Tasting Table program and our Eat Well, Be Well nutrition education campaign. And just last week, we launched our “Host A Healthy Food Drive” program. Our ultimate goal is to move our clients from hunger to health.
According to our annual client nutrition survey, our focus on providing healthy foods IS making an impact.
- 88.7% of clients surveyed would eat less than 3 servings of fruits and vegetables per day if they didn’t have access to Food Share program.
- 55.8% of clients surveyed indicated that Tasting Table has helped them add fresh fruits and vegetables to their diets.
- 59% of clients surveyed said Tasting Table has taught them new ways to prepare meals
- 70% of clients surveyed reported eating better due to Food Share; 30% reported feeling better; 15% stated better mental focus
Food Bank Announces Einstein Challenge: $40,000 Matching Campaign
Last year was one for the record books. We provided food for a record-breaking 6,144,617 meals to our Food Share clients. We distributed an unprecedented 8,918,016 pounds of food through our three hunger-relief programs. The number of meals and snacks we provided to children in need through our Kids Cafe program increased 21%. With the help of our partners, we provided more weekend food packs for homeless and near homeless children than ever before. And perhaps most troubling, the number of seniors we served through our Food Share pantry increased for the fifth year in a row.
The Problem = Funding Needed to Feed More People than Ever Before
For many years, the Food Bank for Larimer County participated in the Feinstein Foundation $1M giveaway split proportionately amongst hundreds of hunger relief agencies based on funds raised in March and April. This year the Feinstein Foundation decided to direct their focus elsewhere. We have relied on this successful campaign to fulfill our fundraising goals and to continue to meet the need in our community.
The Solution = The Einstein Challenge
To replace the Feinstein giveaway, local philanthropists, the FBLC Board of Directors, and the Davis Wealth Management Group at Wells Fargo Advisors have stepped up to the fill the gap by offering the Einstein Challenge – an ingenious way to fight hunger in Larimer County. These leaders have pledged up to $40,000 and are challenging the community to match that amount to make sure the Food Bank can continue to fulfill our mission. Your gift, no matter how big or small, can help us meet our goal. During the months of March and April, your donation will be matched and will now go twice as far in providing food to our hungry neighbors! Every $1 becomes $2. So a gift of $10, which normally provides $50 worth of food, will now provide $100 worth of food!
This is a huge opportunity to make your donation go even further. Please consider making a donation to the Food Bank for Larimer County today. Remember, all donations must be made in March or Aprilto qualify. Please help. The more you give…the more hungry neighbors we can feed. Please donate today!
