220 results for author: lelzinga

“Project Fresh” to provide free fresh produce in July

During the month of July, the Aetna Foundation is partnering with DMARC on “Project Fresh” to provide free fresh produce to people in the greater Des Moines community facing food insecurity. “We are excited to partner with the Aetna Foundation on ‘Project Fresh,’” said DMARC Food Pantry Network Director Rebecca Whitlow. “People love being able to get fruits and vegetables that they otherwise might not be able to afford.” This is the third year the Aetna Foundation has partnered with DMARC to distribute free fresh produce. In 2016 and 2017, DMARC and the Aetna Foundation partnered to operate a free fresh produce stand, “Fresh to ...

DMARC Announces Two New Mobile Food Pantries

DMARC is pleased to share that it will receive two new Mobile Food Pantries, thanks to the generosity of Gregory and Suzie Glazer Burt and Variety - the Children’s Charity, who have provided funds to pay for the truck and trailers and the cost to retrofit both mobile pantries. The Partnership for a Hunger-Free Polk County will cover the remaining costs of the operation and DMARC will operate them and provide the food for both mobiles. The new mobile pantries will help children in the greater Des Moines community, thanks to the collaboration and partnership with Boys and Girls Clubs. The Mobile Food Pantries will visit their locations at times ...

Stamp Out Hunger 2018 Was a Huge Success!

On Saturday, May 12, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) held their 26th annual Stamp Out Hunger food drive across the nation, and the DMARC Food Pantry Network was the local beneficiary of the food drive in the greater Des Moines area. That Saturday, letter carriers around the metro collected food donations from mailboxes and doorsteps, which were brought back to their local post offices, and then transported to the East Grandstands' Hall of Law and Flame at the Iowa State Fairgrounds. All together, 63,402 pounds of food were collected during Stamp Out Hunger. Over 100 watermelon bins full of food! The following week, hundreds ...

We Need Your Help

Our Statement on H R 2

The Des Moines Area Religious Council supports a bipartisan Farm Bill and opposes some proposed changes to SNAP which are included in the House Republican Farm Bill (H R 2), specifically those having to do with expanding the existing work requirements and eliminating categorical eligibility. While we do not oppose work requirements in theory, we believe the proposed changes will do more harm than good. The truth is, most SNAP recipients who are able to work DO work – only 14% of all families receiving SNAP benefits in Iowa’s third congressional district as of January 2018 had no workers in the family during the past 12 months. People living ...

Diaper Drive Rocks Thanks to “33 and 1/3 Year Anniversary” Event

On Friday, April 20, 2018, DMARC supporters Carl and Susan Voss held a "33 1/3 Year Anniversary" event, along with a diaper drive to benefit DMARC! The Voss' know that SNAP dollars do not cover diapers - and that they are a huge need in our community. Attendees submitted their favorite albums and a DJ was available to play them. The album covers served as name tags. Attendees also made contributions to DMARC's diaper fund. In total, the event raised $993.33 for DMARC, enough to purchase 6,785 diapers! Thank you, Carl and Susan, for your incredible support of DMARC, and congratulations on your 33 1/3 years of marriage! DMARC relies on ...

Ray Society Course on Interfaith Relationships

Join Rev. Sarah Trone Garriott, DMARC Coordinator of Interfaith Engagement, and many friends from the across the spectrum of faith at the upcoming Ray Society Class "Building Bridges: Interfaith Relationships." The four sessions will take place Mondays April 30, May 7, 14, and 21 from 10-11:30. For more information or to register click here: http://www.drake.edu/raysociety/ Diversity is not good. Diversity is not bad. Diversity just is—and it’s a fact of our changing world. Rather, the good or the bad is a result of our response to that diversity. This course offers some helpful ways to think about and engage interfaith relationships, ...

Stamp Out Hunger

May 12-19 On Saturday, May 12, the National Association of Letter Carriers (NALC) will be holding their 26th annual Stamp Out Hunger® food drive, and DMARC needs your help to sort tens of thousands of donated food items! How You Can Help We are organizing hundreds of volunteers to help us date-check, seal-check, and sort these food items from Monday, May 14 through Friday, May 18, and additional volunteers to help with clean-up on Saturday, May 19. Shifts are only two hours long - perfect for individuals and groups! For more information, please contact DMARC's Community Outreach and Volunteer Manager Shoshana Salowitz, ssalowitz@dmarcun...

6th Annual Douglas M. Woods Challenge Hunger Campaign

This article originally appeared in the Feb/Mar/Apr 2018 issue of The Voice. DMARC is excited to announce that loyal contributor Doug Woods has doubled his annual “Challenge Hunger” match from $10,000 to $20,000! For retired West Des Moines police officer Doug Woods, the convergence of “The Grapes of Wrath,” a primitive southern Iowa home, and a Bible verse led to his self-described “spiritual awakening”—and, soon after, the launch of the first Douglas M. Woods Hunger Challenge to benefit the DMARC Food Pantry Network. Doug was a picky eater as a child, and his father often reminded him of children in Europe and others who were ...

DMARC Food Pantry Network Serves Record Number of People in November

This November, the DMARC Food Pantry Network served more individuals and households in Greater Des Moines than any other month in its 41-year history. "We were expecting this November to be our highest month of usage," said DMARC executive director Rev. Sarai Schnucker Rice, "but we were not expecting to serve almost 3,000 more people than we did last November." In November, the DMARC Food Pantry Network served 21,079 individuals (8,518 households), an increase of 14% from November 2016. This is also the first month ever that the DMARC Food Pantry Network served over 19,000 individuals. "Many people in our community are still struggling ...