The Kansas Food Bank is the primary food bank for 85 of the 105 counties in Kansas, run from its Wichita warehouse on East Douglas. It started small in 1984, serving 16 agencies in a single county, and today distributes food through more than 700 hunger-relief partner agencies across a service area that covers most of the state. Brian Walker serves as President and CEO. It is a member of the Feeding America network.
The Kansas Food Bank sources food at scale and distributes it across most of the state through more than 700 partner agencies, run from its Wichita warehouse. Covering 85 of Kansas’s 105 counties means an enormous geographic footprint, much of it sparsely populated farm and ranch country where the nearest grocery store, let alone pantry, can be a long drive. The food bank runs strong child-focused programs, including a Food 4 Kids backpack program.
Brian Walker serves as President and CEO of the Kansas Food Bank, leading an organization that has grown from a single-county operation in 1984 into the primary food bank for most of the state. He has been a steady public voice on hunger in Kansas, including during the recent benefit disruptions that food bank leaders compared to the demand surge of the pandemic.
The Kansas Food Bank serves 85 of the 105 counties in Kansas, from the Wichita metro across the wide rural expanse of central and western Kansas. It is a region defined by distance: a food bank serving farm communities hundreds of miles apart, where food insecurity is quieter than in big cities but no less real, and where logistics are the central challenge.
Yes. The Kansas Food Bank is a registered 501(c)(3) and a Feeding America member, operating since 1984. Donors can review its financials through Charity Navigator and GuideStar. Bulk buying and donated food mean a gift produces many meals.
Donations and volunteer shifts run through kansasfoodbank.org. Volunteers sort and pack food and help at distributions, and cash gifts go furthest because of the food bank’s purchasing power.
The Kansas Food Bank covers most of the state, 85 counties from Wichita. The northeastern corner around Kansas City is served by Harvesters, the Kansas City-based food bank that crosses the Missouri line. For anyone in Wichita or central and western Kansas, the Kansas Food Bank is the lead organization.
700+ agencies across 85 counties receive food.
Backpack program sending weekend food home with children.
Food brought into remote rural communities.
Food assistance for older adults on fixed incomes.
Sources: Kansas Food Bank website (kansasfoodbank.org), ProPublica (EIN 48-0959213), and KWCH coverage of the organization’s 40th anniversary. We are not affiliated with Kansas Food Bank and receive no compensation for this listing. Spotted an error? [email protected]
More Kansas and food-bank resources