The 4th Annual Women Fighting Hunger Dinner Fundraiser will take place this Thursday evening, March 28, at Rhythm City Casino in Davenport. New York Times bestselling author, educator and activist Erin Gruwell will be the keynote speaker at this year’s event.  Gruwell s an American teacher best known for her unique teaching method, which led to the publication of The Freedom Writers Diary. The event, hosted at Rhythm City Casino Resort, Davenport, brings together women (and men) who are passionate about River Bend’s mission to work to build hunger-free communities. Also open to men, the... Read More

DAVENPORT, IOWA– New York Times bestselling author, educator and activist Erin Gruwell will be they keynote speaker at this year’s Women Fighting Hunger event, taking place on March 28. Gruwell began teaching in Long Beach, CA in the mid-90s, helping students “written off” by the system harness the power of education to graduate high school. Her dedication to her students resulted in the publication of The Freedom Writers Diary. The event, hosted at Rhythm City Casino Resort, Davenport, brings together women who are passionate about River Bend’s mission to work to build hunger-free... Read More

Join Bettendorf School District for our monthly mobile food pantry thanks to River Bend Food Pantry 5:45 – 7 pm on Tuesday, March 22, at Neil Armstrong Elementary. Families in need are invited to come to the event for help with meeting meal needs.  Read More

Moline-based John Deere  — which started River Bend Food Bank in 1982 in response to the ’80s farm crisis — committed Thursday to donate $1.7 million to the Food Bank in 2021, part of a planned $7 million through the John Deere Foundation over the rest of this decade. In 2020, with Deere’s continued investment, the Food Bank distributed more than 23 million meals and served 160,000 people in 23 Eastern Iowa and Western Illinois counties. “Our history together goes back to the very beginning of River Bend almost 40 years ago,” Nate Clark, president of the John Deere Foundation,... Read More

The Covid-19 pandemic has not only devastated the U.S. economy and cost more than 260,000 American lives, it is driving record hunger in the greater Quad-Cities region. “The number of people who don’t have enough food to eat in the QCA has increased by over 50 percent since Covid,” Mike Miller, president/CEO of River Bend Foodbank, said this week. “There are now almost 150,000 in the 23 counties we serve, 1 in 7 people and 1 in 4 children who are food insecure.” “The Foodbank has responded with record-setting food distributions in April, May, June, and July, with over 2 million meals... Read More