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


 

FY22 Annual Report | Full print Edition

View the complete print edition of the annual report. This pdf version also includes a complete list of donors
and additional insight into the DMARC Food Pantry Network.

View Print Edition

 


 

Food Pantry Network

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.


Interfaith Engagement

DMARC could never do the work of feeding so many people without the partnership of many, diverse faith communities. Nearly 200 faith communities from across the religious spectrum support DMARC with cash, food, and service. Because we can do so much more together than we can on our own, DMARC has a commitment to helping our faith communities learn more about one another and build interfaith relationships.

Interfaith Youth Leadership Camp

DMARC and The Comparison Project at Drake University co-hosted the 6th Annual Interfaith Youth Leadership Camp from July 20-24, 2022. 16 high school students and recent graduates from diverse religious backgrounds expanded their interfaith literacy and leadership through site visits to religious communities across Greater Des Moines and a personal digital storytelling project.

Watch stories from this year’s camp and learn more about Interfaith Youth Leadership Camp: iowainterfaithexchange.com



Advocacy & Education

  • DMARC fought successfully at the state capitol to protect the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) from harmful changes and strengthened our coalition work with state and national partners in the process.
  • DMARC also worked to raise awareness about the drop in SNAP benefits that occurred in Iowa in April 2022, garnering national media coverage on the subject and highlighting its impact on the emergency food sector.

“Thanks to DMARC and the Storytellers Roundtable, I’ve been given countless opportunities to use my voiceto advocate for myself and my community. I have a space where I know my voice will be heard and respected. It’s an honor to have people at DMARC consider me their friend.”
—Tara Leigh Kramer

 


Storytellers Roundtable

The Storytellers Roundtable is a project of DMARC that aims to elevate voices of people experiencing food insecurity in our community and promote their stories to be shared with fellow residents, media outlets, community
leaders, and elected officials.


Financials

Program Services Expenses

Food Pantry Network $2,998,052 63%
Advocacy and Education $71,005 1%
Interfaith Engagement $34,168 >1%

Supporting Services Expenses

Fundraising $410,688 9%
Administrative $426,459 9%

Capital Campaign Expenses

Consulting Fees $44,000 >1%
Construction Cost $788,855 17%
Total Expenses $4,773,227

 

Sources of Support

Individuals $1,904,533 38%
In-Kind Contributions $1,311,879 26%
Grants $671,826 13%
Congregations $474,940 10%
Organizations/Groups $390,574 8%
Events/Miscellaneous $181,099 4%
Planned Giving $47,068 1%
Total Support $4,853,167
Total Net Assets* $7,768,259

*Includes fixed assets

Staff

Matt Unger
Chief Executive Officer
Leslie L. Garman, CFRE
Director of Development & Outreach
Rebecca Whitlow
Food Pantry Network Director
Daniel Beck
Michelle Chumbley
Monica Curl
Jeffrey Czerwiec
Joe Dolack
Luke Elzinga
Carl Evans
Andrew Firestine
Chris Haugen
John McPhee
Patrick Minor
Amanda Parkins
Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott
Blake Willadsen

Board of Directors, FY23

Denise Bubeck
President
Lisa Logan
President Elect
Ihsan Yaseen
Secretary
Randy Jensen
Treasurer
Christ Naumann
Past President
Luai Amro
Shashank Aurora
Rachel Collier Murdock
Matt Durham
Tara Kramer
Rev. Rachel Mithelman
Stuart Oxer
Rev. Ryan Russell
Matthew Strawn
Emily Webb
Ron Beane(Advisory)