Some 50 volunteers and friends of the Perry Emergency Food Pantry met Sunday afternoon at the Mount Olivet Lutheran Church for their annual meeting and volunteer appreciation fest.
Site Director Lou Hoger delivered the year’s data in an annual site director’s report, with Pantry Board President Tim Farmer reflecting on the year’s programs and initiatives and Volunteer Coordinator Lois Hoger recognizing the hard work of the pantry’s 60-some volunteers and the generosity of the “many, many community supporters who provided financial and food assistance on a regular basis.”
Lou Hoger said the effects on the food pantry of the closure of the Tyson Fresh Meats factory in 2024 were significant.
“We had an especially large grant offered to us by the First Interstate Bank Foundation of $25,000,” he said, “and we had several other companies and groups reach out to us for the first time with special gifts due to their appreciation of the community loss from the closing of the Tyson pork plant and the layoff of around 1,400 employees.”
Hoger noted that 2024 saw the pantry serve “a significant number of Haitian immigrants who speak primarily French Creole. We see many fewer of the customers from the various African countries, and the number of Eritreans has reduced greatly.”
In her volunteer coordinator’s report, Lois Hoger said volunteers in 2024 donated about 4,675 of service for the Perry Food Pantry, which equals some $56,000 in wages at $12 an hour if these were paid positions.
The pantry served 633 different households in 2024, an increase of 104 households over 2023, and they purchased 17.1 tons of food from the Food Bank of Iowa, up from 10.2 tons in 2023.
“More than mere numbers, this shows that our mission is expanding and reaching more persons with greater needs,” Lou Hoger said.
