The Elizabeth Food Basket was formed in 1997 due to an infant death from lack of nourishment.  The Mayor along with the EMTs, scout leaders, village volunteers, and Jack and Jeannette Graves decided that this kind of situation should never happen again. So, with limited funds to start, the group initiated
the Elizabeth Food Basket.

The Elizabeth Food Basket has been sustained by gracious contributions of food items from the area churches, individuals and monetary donations from various sources.  As time progressed, we realized that our "founders" had maintained the Basket operations without being a 501(c)(3) tax exempt entity that would have allowed us to affiliate with the River Bend Food Bank in Davenport, IA where we would have been able to purchase food at greatly reduced costs. During that time, we were struggling financially and serving more families. The United Methodist Church of Elizabeth temporarily adopted us so that we could purchase food items at a discounted cost from River Bend and their then local affiliate
St. Stephens. Our mission of providing a source of healthy food was then further blessed as a lawyer and his staff, Steven A. Cox and Karen Dittmar, donated their time to pursue establishing our own 501(c)(3) designation.  June 2017 marked our "official" government standing as a nonprofit charitable organization.

We continue to seek food item donations, monetary donations, and participate in fundraising activities to sustain our service which reaches a monthly average of 40 plus families which translates up to 100 plus individuals.

​The Elizabeth Food Basket is also blessed with support from the Village of Elizabeth who offers a "home" in which we serve our guests, the Chamber who helps us with community connections, and our 22 volunteers. We are also very thankful for all those who donate food items and monetary support.