A federal report shows about 3 ½ % of all Idaho households have family members who go hungry at some point during the year,
while over 11% worry whether then can afford to buy food, and still pay other expenses.

Even in seemingly affluent Blaine county, there are an increasing number of families who need help with food assistance.

About six years ago the Hunger Coalition began to put an end to hunger with wholesome food options and solutions to the causes of hunger.
Switching gears to 2009, the mission is still there but the need is greater.

Executive Director Jeanne Liston says the cost of living is more than triple the cost of what the poverty level is. And now they have a facility in Bellevue that allows for more opportunities.

Liston said, "We have a kitchen that we can hold nutrition classes and we have some space outside to raise some gardens which will help clients grow their own food and volunteers to come down and have some community gardens."

They started moving over to the new location from a 1,800 square foot warehouse in Hailey earlier this month. Previously Liston was working out of a home office and there was a small 20 by 20 foot space for the food bank in the Department of Health and Welfare building.

"We spent months looking at Hailey and just couldn't find anything affordable. But we were able to locate this current space in Bellevue and it's more than double the current space with room to grow."

Some donors made it possible this year to purchase a van to use as a mobile food bank. So far the bank has delivered over 145,000lbs of food to residents throughout the valley.