Harvesters

Cuts to federal food aid have already reduced the food available at area food pantries and meal sites. If SNAP gets hit too, nonprofits worry they won’t be able to keep up with demand.

Summer break can be difficult for students who rely on schools for free meals, mental health services and other support. Kansas City area schools are trying to bridge that gap.

Harvesters, the food bank that serves the Kansas City area and helps supply food to local pantries and shelters, says that thousands of cases of canned food, eggs, milk and more were called off by President Trump's U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Wagers, contests, and collaborations between the City of Brotherly Love and the City of Fountains are blowing up the internet once again. Museums, zoos, restaurants, libraries, animal shelters, and more in Kansas City are all betting on the home team — and hoping for a “three-peat.”

Kansas City community kitchens are seeing higher demand as food prices remain high and COVID-19 assistance disappears. The food bank Harvesters is focusing on rescuing food waste as one way to shore up its supplies as demand rises, and donations are down.

The holiday break can be difficult for families who rely on schools to provide meals, shelter and other resources to their kids. Schools around the Kansas City area started planning early so kids would be taken care of.

Mayors, senators, hospitals, zoos — everyone’s getting into the mix, with cheesesteaks, barbecue, and Poor Richard’s Almanack at stake.

After 20 years with the community food bank and nine years as president and CEO, Valerie Nicholson-Watson is retiring from Harvesters Community Food Network.

Schools around Kansas City have been able to provide meals to thousands of children for free, regardless of their family’s income, thanks to federal legislation passed during the pandemic. Now, districts are worried that Congress will let those waivers expire.

Food pantries in the metro are seeing more clients than ever, but generous donations are helping them meet the demand. They also say it could be at least two years before families get back to where they were before the pandemic began.

Gov. Mike Parson stopped all federal pandemic-related unemployment programs, effective June 12, in the hopes of incentivizing people to return to the workforce.

For households with kids, the percentage who didn't know where their next meal was coming from jumped from 13.6 to 28 percent since the coronavirus struck.