A food bank serving nine eastern Iowa counties hopes to raise the equivalent of 50,000 meals by September.
The Hawkeye Area Community Action Program has already raised 27,000 meals. With schools out of session and cafeterias empty, many children and their families turn to food pantries for assistance, but that increased demand coincides with a lull in donations.
The program’s Chris Ackman says donations often drop off during the summer. “People maybe have given once during the year and not as many people are paying attention to it during the summer, but hey, we still have this need year round, and we accept donations year round.” Ackman says people think to give around the holidays, but may not remember to during the heat of summer.
He says this food is essential for the 150 food sites across the region. “All the food pantries that we work with are incredibly great and they have a really great cause, but we’re not in competition with them,” he says. “It all goes back out into the community as best as it can, and hopefully, as quickly as it can.”
The facility covers Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, and Washington counties. Feeding America estimates that one in 13 people in the service area struggles with food insecurity. Last year, HACAP distributed 9.2 million pounds of food.
(By Zachary Oren Smith, Iowa Public Radio)