SIOUX CITY (KTIV) – Earlier this month, the state of Iowa launched a new summer program to feed school-aged kids.
Healthy Kids Iowa is a Pilot Program through Iowa Health and Human Services, providing Iowa families with additional food, which is now being filled in warehouses.
The USDA funds this program, and Iowa received a waiver to grant the money to regional food banks.
The Foodbank of Siouxland received just over $700,000 to purchase the food.
The warehouse at the Foodbank of Siouxland is stocked with the first month of Healthy Kids Iowa food items on Tuesday morning.
With Healthy Kids Iowa, Families will be able to pick up about $40 worth of food per child per month for June, July, and August.
You’re looking at June’s menu, in addition to some bread products to choose from.
Jacob Wanderscheid, Executive Director of Foodbank of Siouxland, “We’re looking at trying to provide as close to ‘meals’ as we can, but also filling in some of those snack areas as well. Breads, tortillas, bagels, peanut butter, fruits, vegetables, and proteins. Just a lot of different aspects to help support kids’ nutrition during the summer,” said Jacob Wanderscheid, Executive Director of Foodbank of Siouxland. “We kinda hammered out the details in May and started the distribution in June.”
During the school year, there is more nutritional support at schools, but this program is another way to get the extra portion of food that they may be missing, by going to the food pantry.
The Foodbank of Siouxland says that they have a goal of reaching 6,000 kids once a month in the 8 county region that they serve in Northwest Iowa.
”There is a certain percentage of children that have been identified that could be part of this program from the state Education Department, and we’re going to try to serve 30% of those kids in this test,” said Wanderscheid.
Food pantries are happening daily, getting this food into the hands of kids as soon as possible.
“The biggest difference for us is just providing more support to the food pantries and ultimately the kids in our Northwest Iowa area with more food this summer to make sure that they don’t lose gains due to nutrition deficits,” added Wanderscheid.
Community Action Agency of Siouxland (CAAS) is one of the pickup locations.
“Some families rely heavily on the school lunch program to feed their kids; losing that resource is very stressful and can mean kids will go hungry. We want to do everything we can to make Healthy Kids Iowa successful and ensure that no child is hungry this summer,” said Jean Logan, Executive Director of Community Action Agency of Siouxland.
CAAS’s distribution is open during our normal hours; they ask people to call and schedule a time for them to come pick it up first.
Eligible families do not need to register or do anything before arriving during the Healthy Kids Iowa distribution time.
Sites will be able to establish eligibility during their distribution.
To be eligible, households must meet the federal poverty level of 185% or below and have children ages 4-18 in their care.
Also, Households that have already self-attested to eligibility for the Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) with children ages 4 to 18 are eligible to participate in this program.
To see if you meet the federal poverty level, follow this link.
More information can be found at the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services website.
Want to get the latest news and weather from Siouxland’s News Source? Follow these links to download our KTIV News app and our First Alert Weather app.
Copyright 2025 KTIV. All rights reserved.
发表回复