Bemis Company Foundation Grants $5,000 to Food Pantry Network
DMARC recently received a $5,000 grant from the Bemis Company Foundation to support the Food Pantry Network. This grant award will go toward the purchase of healthy food supplies such as fresh produce, frozen meats, dairy, and low-sodium, low-fat and low-sugar items to be distributed within the DMARC Food Pantry Network. The grant will provide funding for approximately 8,600 meals for 950 low-income individuals in Greater Des Moines.
DMARC Awarded $500 from Walmart Foundation
DMARC was recently awarded $500 from the Walmart Foundation via the Ankeny Sam's Club (Facility #6979). The funds will be used to purchase and provide supplies of healthy food choices such as fresh produce, frozen meats, dairy, as well as low-sodium, low-fat and low-sugar items for distribution within DMARC's Food Pantry Network. The $500 grant will provide funding for approximately 860 meals for nearly 100 low-income individuals in Ankeny within the service area of Sam's Club Store #6979.
Double Take: Des Moines Now On Sale
"Double Take: Des Moines" is a newly-released memory match card game created by Kathy Olah of West Des Moines. The game includes 60 cards featuring 30 different photos (all taken by Kathy) of iconic Des Moines locations and sights.
Olah is a long-time supporter of DMARC, and for every copy of the game sold will be donating $2 to the DMARC Food Pantry Network.
The game is currently being sold at Raygun, Tandem Brick, the Iowa State Capitol Gift Shop, and the Des Moines Botanical Center Gift Shop.
Learn more about Kathy Olah and Double Take: Des Moines in this ...
#NoHungerCentralIowa Food Drive at Christmas with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith Concert a Big Success
On Sunday, December 4, 2016, the DMARC Food Pantry Network was on-site at the Christmas with Amy Grant and Michael W. Smith concert to collect food donations as concert-goers entered Wells Fargo Event Center. The food drive was sponsored by Life 107.1 as part of their #NoHungerCentralIowa concert benefit campaign.
"It was such a pleasure to work with both Wells Fargo Event Center and DMARC on our first large-scale food drive," said Life 107.1's Jen Green. "#NoHungerCentralIowa was a huge success."
DMARC staff and volunteers were situated at both entrances of ...
A Look at the First Month of the Mobile Food Pantry
The DMARC Mobile Food Pantry began operation on July 6, 2016. In the first month, the Mobile Food Pantry served 226 households and a total of 548 individuals. A full 59% of visitors to the Mobile Food Pantry were new to the DMARC Food Pantry Network database system.
In July, the Mobile Food Pantry registered 3.7% of the entire DMARC Network volume, serving the equivalent amount of people as a mid-size food pantry.
What does this tell us? We're serving more people in more places, and reaching populations who previously did not have access to a food pantry in their ...
Commemorating 40 Years of Food Assistance
By Luke Elzinga, Communications Manager
This article first appeared in the May/Jun/Jul 2016 issue of The Voice.
In May, 1976, the call went out to congregations across Greater Des Moines: we need your help to end local hunger.
Many aspects of our work have changed over the past 40 years, but our mission remains the same. We are still dedicated to ending hunger in our community, and we still rely on our member congregations to help us do so.
As we mark our 40th year of food assistance work, DMARC would like to thank the countless volunteers and donors who have made this ...
Fleet Feet Sports Hosts ‘Run Your Can Off’ Relay Race
On Saturday, April 16, 2016, Fleet Feet Sports in the East Village hosted the first-ever "Run Your Can Off" relay race and food drive. The race began at the Fleet Feet Sports location at 521 E Locust in the East Village. From there, runners ran down E 6th 1.5 miles to B&B Grocery & Deli.
Runners then purchased food items to donate to the Red Barrel back at Fleet Feet. Runners earned time off their total run for each food item they brought back with them.
The event brought in 165 food items to the DMARC Food Pantry Network, plus some personal ...
Changes in the DMARC Food Pantry Network
There are some recent and upcoming changes in the DMARC Food Pantry Network. IMPACT Community Action Partnership is moving to new locations at both their Des Moines and Ankeny branches, and CROSS Ministries will also be moving to a new location.
IMPACT Food Pantries
IMPACT Community Action Partnership is on the move, both at their Des Moines and Ankeny locations. The IMPACT office at 1816 6th Avenue in Des Moines will be moving to a new location by Drake University, 3226 University Avenue. The 6th Avenue site's last day of operation will be April 1, and the new ...
Yaakov Ariel Presents at David Bear Memorial Lecture
The 5th Annual David Bear Memorial Interfaith Lecture Series featured Yaakov Ariel, author or "An Unusual Relationship: Evangelical Christians and Jews" and Professor of Religious Studies at University of North Carolina Chapel Hill. It was held on Tuesday, October 13, 2015, at Tifereth Israel Synagogue in Des Moines.
Dr. Yaakov Ariel provided a comprehensive picture of the unusual relationship that has developed between evangelical Christians and Jews. He explored the theological roots of the evangelical attitudes, pointed to the historical development of the ...
Fresh Produce, Central Iowa and the Well-Being Index
On Tuesday, July 28, 2015, the United Way of Central Iowa hosted the Central Iowa Well-Being Forum at Des Moines University. The keynote speaker for the event was Dan Witters, Research Director for the Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index. Mr. Witters talked about how the Well-Being Index (WBI) is calculated, showed some national trends and regional examples, and then turned his focus to the Well-Being Index of the Des Moines Metropolitan Statistical Area (MSA).
The Gallup-Healthways Well-Being Index is comprised of five interrelated and interdependent elements:
Ov...