Give Time
See our work in action and play your part in making it happen. Individuals and groups are needed year-round. It’s as easy as finding an opportunity, checking your schedule, then signing up for a shift online!
Did you know that last fiscal year (FY24)…
2,588
volunteers gave time across the DMARC Food Pantry Network
82,245
hours of volunteer support generated by their efforts
$2.75m
of labor in equivalent value (or roughly 39 full-time staff)
Not Sure Where to Start?
Here are three of the easiest ways to get involved:
Volunteer at the Food Pantry
Group or individual; 2 hr shift
Like helping a neighbor shop at the grocery store. Our DMARC-Ket Southside Food Pantry volunteers provide a helping hand to food pantry guests, directing them through the shopping process, stocking shelves, and helping to bag groceries. Training is provided on-site. Invite a friend to come with!
Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive
Group or individual
Our biggest food drive of the year returns every spring on the second Saturday in May. The NALC’s Annual Stamp Out Hunger® Food Drive invites community members to leave a donation at their doorstep that is all collected in one day by their letter carrier and donated to DMARC.
Hundreds of volunteer are needed to help sort, organize, and move the 38k+ lbs of food we receive from your doorstep all in that one day.
Delivering Food Orders
Individual; Thursdays
Many of our delivery recipients have come to depend on the DMARC Delivery Program that was born out of the necessity during the pandemic. Drop off pre-prepared food boxes to a list of households from 9:30 to noon on Thursdays.
Our Biggest Needs:
Sorting Donations
Volunteering in the Pantry
Delivering Food Orders
Helping at Special Events
Questions about volunteering? Want to get more involved?
Contact Amanda Parkins, DMARC Volunteer and Outreach manager at aparkins@dmarcunited.org or call (515) 277‑6969 x220.
The need is so great and it breaks my heart thinking about the people who don’t have enough to eat. I could cry just thinking about it.
Helen Bell,
DMARC-Ket volunteer
Everyone’s experience is different. They are always appreciative of the food and this work as become even more important since the pandemic.
Sharyl & Chuck Heiken
Food Pantry volunteers
Get Involved as a Group
Want to learn more about DMARC? Our warehouse and on-site food pantry make hosting larger corporate volunteer groups a breeze. You can tie your volunteer experience in with an educational opportunity, tour, or if you are a youth group host a DMARC Hunger Simulation.
You can also host a food and fund drive to encourage donations of food and funds.
Reach out and let us know more about youself and we can find a date/opportunity that works best for you.
Special Events
Join us for one of our upcoming fundraising events, food drives, meetings, or other special events. Your participation, volunteering, and gifts help us grow our impact!
Spring Greens
Our signature fundraiser in April, with the purpose of raising critical funds for its mission. Like throwing a good party? Help plan this event and volunteer during the event.
Stamp Out Hunger
This May, we need volunteers to assist with sorting, date- and quality-checking, counting, and packaging thousands of pounds of donated food items at the NALC’s annual food drive.
Meals from the Market
Each Saturday during the summer, at the end of Des Moines Downtown Farmers’ Market, volunteers collect and load donated produce into a truck for distribution from DMARC.
Iowa Cubs
Help hit a home run for our Food Pantry Network! On Sunday Home games anyone can enter the game for free by bringing in a donation of three nonperishable food items. DMARC needs a couple of awesome volunteers to collect donations at each of the I-Cubs Sunday home games.
Spotlight
Meals from the Market
The Meals From The Market program began in 2009 and has raised over 500,000 meals to support the DMARC Food Pantry Network. This volunteer-led program aims to provide fresh, local produce to food pantries in the Greater Des Moines region. Volunteers with Meals From The Market canvass The Market, asking vendors if they would like to donate any unsold produce to the program.