Just two years after moving in at 1435 Mulberry Street, DMARC was already running out of warehouse space, and added a second warehouse facility on Scott Street in 2016 thanks to the Partnership for a Hunger-Free Polk County. While this extra space allowed DMARC greater storage capacity, the logistical issue of two separate warehouses has not been without challenges.

In 2018, DMARC began looking at other properties that would expand and consolidate operations. By mid-2019, DMARC had assembled a committee to conduct a feasibility study on the need for a larger facility and capital campaign to fund it. Trudy Holman Hurd and Dr. Robert Shaw, MD, graciously accepted invitations to co-chair this committee, and multiple groups of stakeholders provided input for the feasibility study.

As the DMARC Food Pantry Network repeatedly broke all-time monthly records for food pantry use in 2019, the answer became clear—DMARC needed to find a bigger facility in order to respond to the growing need in the community.

After an extensive search, DMARC made an agreement to purchase the building at 100 Army Post Road from Knapp Properties in October 2020, and put 1435 Mulberry Street up for sale.

In the middle of all this, the COVID-19 pandemic swept across Iowa, and thousands of people turned to the DMARC Food Pantry Network for the first time ever—again underscoring the necessity for DMARC to move to a larger facility.

INVISION provided early design services pro bono on the renovation project, holding multiple brainstorming and design sessions with DMARC staff and leadership to dream up and design an architectural plan for the new facility. Engineering Resources Group provided additional advising.

Munro Construction Company began work on renovations to the new facility in spring 2021, and is slated to finish the project in early 2022. DMARC has already raised $1.5 million of its $5.6 million capital campaign goal.

With this move, DMARC is redoubling its efforts to provide food today and change tomorrow.