Local county Farm Bureaus again offering the “Bushels for Hunger” campaign this harvest season. The program runs through Jan. 31, says Mercer County farmer Jeff Kirwan. Proceeds benefit the River Bend Foodbank, which serves all of western Illinois and eastern Iowa.
The Bushels for Hunger program is coordinated by the Rock Island, Henry, Mercer, Stark and Whiteside County Farm Buraus in conjunction with the following area grain elevators and ethanol plants: Atkinson Grain, Big River Resources, Cargill, CHS, Consolidated Grain & Barge Co., Gold Star FS, Hillsdale Elevator, River Valley Cooperative and Rumbold & Kuhn.
River Bend Foodbank CEO and President Michael Miller says the need is up 50-percent this year due to the pandemic.