Emma Marsing, [email protected]
ROCK SPRINGS, WYOMING — The Sweetwater Food Bank has been helping individuals within the county fight hunger since 1987 and 1989 when their Green River and Rock Springs locations opened their doors. Since then their mission has been to provide the necessary resources to feed the hungry within the county. This weekend another event will be taking place to help those in need get sufficient and nutritional food.
Since the COVID-19 pandemic, inflation within the country over the past three years has continued to skyrocket causing transportation, gas, and grocery costs to increase. This has caused many American citizens to live on very tight budgets as they make changes to their income and spending.
With that being said, hunger is on the rise in the United States. The US Department of Agriculture estimated that in 2022, 1.3 billion citizens lacked nutritional, sufficient, and safe food; a total increase of 10% since 2021. The Food Bank of Wyoming has released its 2022 annual report magnifying the importance and value the food banks around the state have provided this past year. In 2022, the Food Bank of Wyoming distributed 7,493,484 meals with 332,655 of those meals going to residents of Sweetwater County.
The Food Bank of Sweetwater County receives its operational funding from United Way of Southwest WY, with help from the City of Rock Springs and the City of Green River for the building and utility costs. The City of Green River also provides a large grant to the Green River Food Pantry each year to help with operational costs. With help from churches, local businesses, the public, food drives, and more, the food bank is able to continue helping the local community fight hunger.
This Saturday, March 18, in partnership with the White Mountain Mall, the Sweetwater County Food Bank will be having a food distribution event beginning at 12:30 p.m. behind Star Stadium Theatre. If you or someone you know is in need of food, stop by and pick up some items.
If you would like to make a donation to the Sweetwater Food Bank, you can drop items off in Rock Springs between 11:00 a.m. – 2:00 p.m. and 4:00 p.m. – 5:00 p.m. or in Green River between 11:00 a.m. – 4:00 p.m. on distribution days. Monetary donations can be made here.
