A Message from Matt

Thank you so much for your support of the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC). This past year has seen plenty of challenges for our organization, but also a great number of successes.

I feel incredibly lucky to lead this organization. It is clear we are in the midst of one of the most pivotal periods in DMARC’s 70-year history of serving Greater Des Moines. And there is simply no way we could fulfill our mission without the support of such a generous community.

CELEBRATING OUR 70TH ANNIVERSARY

DMARC celebrated the 70th anniversary of our organization in May 2022. DMARC has changed in significant ways over the past 70 years, but our mission of meeting basic human needs remains. Celebrating our seven decades of work was a great opportunity to ground ourselves in our deep history and gather inspiration from everyone who built DMARC into the organization we are today.

FACING A “PERFECT STORM” OF NEED

During the pandemic, many additional governmental and community resources have been available to people facing food insecurity in our community. We fully anticipated that the DMARC Food Pantry Network would face the biggest need once those additional programs were no longer in place. Emergency Allotments for SNAP ended in Iowa in April, and the average monthly SNAP benefits for households dropped by more than $200. We immediately started seeing double-digit percent increases in food pantry traffic over the prior year.

At the same time that people lost access to additional SNAP benefits, food prices and the costs of other basic needs have gone through the roof. All of this has created a “perfect storm” of need in our community.

MOVING INTO OUR NEW HEADQUARTERS

In March, DMARC moved in to our new headquarters at 100 Army Post Road on the south side of Des Moines. The new space has been transformational for our work. You can read more about our capital campaign and new headquarters on the opposite page.

We could not meet our mission, let alone take on a multi-million dollar capital campaign, without the steadfast support of our donors. Thank you for all you do for DMARC and our community! You are truly incredible.

Matt Unger
Chief Executive Officer

The DMARC Food Pantry Network consists of 15 partner food pantries, multiple mobile food pantry locations, and a home delivery program. DMARC is committed to providing nutritious food and fresh fruits and vegetables to the people we assist.

Once per calendar month, people can select a three-day supply of food from any one of our partner food pantries, and AnyTime Items are available whenever our partner food pantries are open.

DMARC has opened a food pantry on-site at its headquarters, 100 Army Post Road, Des Moines, IA 50315. The new food pantry, named the DMARC-ket Southside Food Pantry, becomes the 15th partner food pantry in the DMARC Food Pantry Network, and the first brick-and-mortar food pantry that DMARC will staff and operate as an organization.

Navigating Supply Chain Issues

DMARC continues to deal with supply chain issues, leading to longer fulfillment times for orders, and higher food and transportation costs.

“DMARC and its staff bring a tremendous value to central Iowa. You are the lifeline to so many people who are food insecure.” —Kent Peterson, Volunteer Delivery Driver

No Contact Home Delivery Program

DMARC continues to grow our no-contact home delivery program that started during the pandemic. Thanks to developing partnerships, DMARC is expanding the reach of this important program that delivers food directly to the doorstep of people in need.

United to Meet the Need

• In FY22 we Distributed 1,116,615 lbs of fresh produce
• 34.4 percent of individuals served through the DMARC Food Pantry Network were 17 years of age or younger
• In FY22, 10,157 individuals volunteered through DMARC programs and 109,961 volunteer hours of support were recorded.

Volunteers make our work possible by:

• assisting at mobile food pantry sites and providing no-contact home deliveries
• hosting food drives and collecting donations from Red Barrels at local grocery stores
• serving on committees and offering their expertise to further DMARC’s mission
• planning, promoting, and assisting at special events, including our annual signature event, Spring Greens

In FY22, DMARC assisted:

43,576
total unique individuals

18,656
households assisted

The 50314 ZIP code had the greatest concentration of food pantry use, with
26.9 percent of residents using the DMARC Food Pantry Network in FY22.