Nearly one in four (23%) Native American households experience low food security, meaning not enough food quality, variety, or desirability of dietary intake.

Immediate Relief

Food & Water

Our Food & Water services bring immediate relief from food insecurity for Native American Elders, children and families. Partnership With Native Americans (PWNA) assists food bank partners across dozens of reservations.

Because low food security is an everyday issue on the reservations PWNA serves, nutrition-related disease rates are high. Contaminated drinking water is also an issue in many of the communities we serve. Although many food banks operate within our service area, a study by America's Second Harvest shows that the majority of food banks lack an adequate supply of food to meet demand.

PWNA helps meet immediate nutritional needs for thousands of people annually, especially Native American Elders.

We support our reservation food partners by:
  • supplying food boxes to food pantries
  • providing staple foods for Elderly Nutrition Programs and soup kitchens preparing hot meals for Elders
  • providing breakfast foods for Native Elders
  • distributing emergency food boxes to individual families and community-wide meals during major holidays such as Thanksgiving, Christmas and Easter
  • supporting gardening through tilling and training for Elders, families and community groups

(Related programs: Northern Plains Reservation Aid (NPRA) - formerly American Indian Relief Council (AIRC), Southwest Reservation Aid (SWRA) - formerly Council of Indian Nations (CIN), Native American Aid (NAA), Navajo Relief Fund (NRF), Sioux Nation Relief Fund (SNRF) and Southwest Indian Relief Council (SWIRC))