The Sauk Valley Foodbank was started in 2001, after the closure of Northwestern Steel and Wire Co., Lawrence Brothers, and National Manufacturing, increased demands on local food pantries brought the need to Carol Siefken who had also lost her job in computer finance from the closures. The United Way of Sterling-Rock Falls (United Way of Whiteside County) formed a committee and approached the River Bend Foodbank in Davenport, Iowa to see whether the area needed a foodbank of its own.