About Meals From the Heartland
Empowering people to save starving children
Focus Areas
Hunger reliefFood securityChild nutritionVolunteer engagementHunger education/outreach
Who They Fund
people living in povertylow-income individuals and familieseconomically vulnerable populations
Funding Style
direct serviceemergency/short-term reliefbasic needs funding
Topics
poverty alleviation
About Meals From the Heartland
Meals From the Heartland Inc centers its grantmaking on aid to the needy, with three very large grants to Convoy of Hope in Springfield, Missouri across 2023, 2024, and 2025. That repeated relationship stands out alongside a broad set of food and hunger-relief grants to regional food banks, local councils, and community partners. The foundation’s recent giving shows a mix of large-scale support and smaller direct-service awards, all tied to basic needs and hunger relief. Within its recent grants, Midwest Food Bank in Normal, Illinois received multiple awards, including one in the six-figure range and another at the top of the typical grant-size range. Several Iowa-based recipients also appear, including Des Moines Area Religious Council, Hacap Food Reservoir - Cedar Rapids, River Bend Food Bank, and Food Bank of Iowa. The pattern suggests a funder built around food assistance and emergency relief, with grantmaking that reaches both large distributing organizations and local hunger-response groups. Its stated focus areas include hunger relief, food security, child nutrition, volunteer engagement, and hunger education/outreach.
What Meals From the Heartland Funds
Meals From the Heartland Inc gives across several hunger-related causes, but the clearest thread is direct food assistance. It awarded $41,155 to Des Moines Area Religious Council in 2025, $30,684 to Hacap Food Reservoir - Cedar Rapids in 2025, and $15,945 to Food Bank of Iowa in 2024, all marked “aid to the needy.” Child nutrition also sits within the foundation’s stated focus areas, alongside hunger relief and food security. In that same basic-needs lane, it gave $23,201 in 2025 to Forgotten Harvest Inc in Oak Park, Michigan, extending support beyond Iowa to another food-distribution organization. Volunteer engagement and hunger education/outreach appear in the foundation’s focus list as well, though the recent-grants data most clearly documents its funding through food banks, religious councils, and distribution partners rather than program descriptions beyond “aid to the needy.”
How Meals From the Heartland Gives
Grant sizes range from a median of $23,201 to a p25 of $9,612 and a p75 of $43,327, showing a pattern that includes both modest local awards and larger distribution grants. The foundation’s recent records show repeated support over multiple years, especially for some recipients that appear in 2023, 2024, and 2025. That recurring pattern suggests ongoing relationships rather than one-time awards. The organization appears to operate as a private grantmaker focused on basic-needs support; it does not fund individuals and makes no program-related investments. No application process is stated in the provided data.
Financial Snapshot
Annual Giving
$2.2M
Total Assets
$4M
Total Revenue
$3.5M
Total Expenses
$3.5M
Typical Grant Size
Most grants fall between $10K and $43K, with a median of $23K.
25th Percentile
$10K
Median
$23K
75th Percentile
$43K
Geographic Reach
Regional8 states funded
Funding intensity
LowHigh
Headquarters
Leadership
DAN KOESTNER
Accepts unsolicited proposals
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