Food Bank of Iowa announced today a $100,000 matching donation from Corteva Agriscience to assist with feeding food insecure Iowans during the coronavirus pandemic, which has created levels of unemployment and poverty not seen since the Great Depression.

The Corteva Corporate Challenge Match was created to encourage additional corporate and individual support during this challenging time. Corteva will match all donations made through this campaign up to $100,000.

“We hope companies and individuals will join us to match this corporate challenge gift by Corteva Agriscience to double the impact and allow the Food Bank of Iowa to provide additional food to those in need,” said Henri Moore, global responsibility leader. “Food is the most basic human need, it is important that those that have lost wages or jobs and children not receiving school meals have access to food and we’re committed to help address the vital need during this pandemic with this corporate challenge gift.”

Food Bank of Iowa is the state’s largest hunger relief organization and the need for food assistance has increased considerably. The organization has worked to shift their distribution model to include more mobile pantries and drive-through distributions to reduce person to person contact. At a time when resources are scarce, the group is in need of additional funds to help purchase more food and packing supplies to accommodate the new distribution efforts.

“This pandemic is creating a huge demand for additional food assistance.  The need is growing exponentially as schools remain closed and low wage workers continue to see hours slashed or are without work,” said Michelle Book, president and CEO, Food Bank of Iowa. “In this time of need, we are incredibly grateful for Corteva’s generous support and their encouragement for others to get involved.”

Children from low income families are missing two to three meals a day which are normally provided at school.  With doors locked for now, these children do not have access to weekend backpack food and families can no longer access school pantries.  Hourly wage earners have been sent home as more events are cancelled and retail operations shrink or cease.  Pantry partners are reaching out to get more food from Food Bank of Iowa.

People searching for food assistance or those interested in supporting the Corteva Corporate Challenge Match may find up to date information on Food Bank of Iowa’s website at www.foodbankiowa.org.