DCH draws crowd with drive-through mobile food pantry

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Matt Crooks, left, DCH Foundation manager, and Macinzie McFarland, DCH community relations and marketing manager, were among the many hospital volunteers loading trunks and back seats with free food at Wednesday's Mobile Food Pantry.

The Food Bank of Iowa is a partner in the Mobile Food Pantry.

The Dallas County Hospital, in partnership with the Food Bank of Iowa and the Hunger-Free Dallas County initiative, hosted a holiday-time mobile food pantry Wednesday from 4–6 p.m. in the hospital’s north parking lot.

The DCH volunteers used a drive-through method in order to save people from discomfort in the cool temperatures and to promote an orderly distribution. Vehicles ringed the hospital parking lot and spilled out into Iowa Street as the two-hour event progressed.

“We served 171 households yesterday, representing 527 people,” said Kari Severson, laboratory manager at the Dallas County Hospital and the hospital’s point person for the Hunger-Free Dallas County initiative.

A mobile food pantry offers free food to anyone in need of assistance. The events are held every other month at DCH as part of the Hunger-Free Dallas County initiative.

Jennifer Walters, community health coordinator with the Dallas County Public Health Nursing Services, said about 6,500 people in Dallas County are food insecure. According to the U.S. Department of Agriculture, a food-insecure person or family frequently runs out of food, skips meals, cannot afford balanced meals or reduces portions in order to feed children.

A recent study by the United Way of Central Iowa found about one-third of Iowans do not earn enough money to cover the basic costs of living, such as food. In towns like Perry and Minburn, more than 40 percent of the population is classified as income vulnerable.

The Hunger-Free Dallas County project was born in the fall of 2014 through a partnership of the Hunger-Free Iowa Initiative, the Dallas County Department of Health and local volunteers interested in battling hunger in Dallas County.

A number of passionate volunteers and anti-hunger groups in Dallas County are partners in the Hunger-Free Dallas County project. The groups include:

  • Adel Good Samaritan Food Pantry
  • Dallas County Community Services
  • Dallas Center Food Pantry
  • Dallas County Hospital
  • Dallas County Public Health Department
  • Eat Greater Des Moines
  • Food Bank of Iowa
  • Heart of Iowa Regional Transportation Authority (HIRTA)
  • Hy-Vee
  • Mercy Health Network
  • New Opportunities
  • Perry Area Food Pantry
  • United Way of Central Iowa
  • Waukee Area Christian Services

For more information about Hunger-Free Dallas County or to volunteer, call Jennifer Walters at 515-993-1764 or email jennifer.walters@dallascountyiowa.gov. For more information about the Hunger-Free Iowa initiative, visit the Hunger-Free Iowa website, or call the Food Bank of Iowa at 515-564-0330.

DCH volunteers filled vehicles with free food as fast as the vehicles could drive through at Wednesday’s Mobile Food Pantry at DCH.

1 COMMENT

  1. We served 171 households yesterday representing 527 people. Remind people that this is for anyone no matter what county you live in.

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