Local food basket’s numbers show huge hunger increase

IDAHO FALLS, Idaho (KIFI) — The Community Food Basket in Idaho Falls finds the number of people served almost doubled over 2023.  

In 2023, the Food Basket served about 66,500 people. In 2024, they served 109,000. Almost 49,000 of the people served in 2024 were children, according to the Community Food Basket's Executive Director, Ariel Jackson.

Jackson says that while the data shows an increase in the need for food, it also shows the Food Basket has a lot of help from the community through donations and volunteering.

“We had about 9,000 volunteers last year that donated 24,000 hours of service,” Jackson said.

The Food Basket provided almost 1.7 million meals in 2024, thanks to the help of its volunteers and people who donated.

Jackson says the community's need for food will likely increase in 2025, especially with inflation.

"If you look at the price of eggs, you can kind of tell what direction we're headed in," Jackson said. "And unfortunately, inflation hit us just like it hit everybody else."

Information on how to help the Community Food Basket can be found here.