These Des Moines metro 'little free food pantries' are filling gaps to feed the hungry

Outside the Altoona Public Library there is a small wooden box stocked with canned goods and other nonperishable food items that are available any time of day to anyone in need of something to eat.

It's the latest in a series of miniature food pantries that have sprung up in the Des Moines metro.

Based on the same concept as Little Free Libraries, the food pantries are a small-scale approach to helping solve the growing need for food assistance in central Iowa.  

There are 26,690 Polk County residents, including 13,464 children, who are going hungry, according to Hunger Free Polk County. And an additional 72,379 people are food insecure.

The number of people seeking assistance from the metro's established food pantries is up 10 percent over the last six months, according to the Rev. Sarai Schnucker Rice, executive director of the Des Moines Area Religious Council.

That growing need is what prompted Girl Scouts from Troop 296 to create the pantry in Altoona. It was slated to open Sunday. Local residents are invited to take the items they need or leave what they can for others.

There are about two dozen similar pantries in the Des Moines metro, according to the Little Free Pantry website, although others, including Altoona's, are unlisted. 

The Girl Scouts received a $200 grant from Grace Lutheran Church for the project and plan to stock it with items purchased through fundraisers and cookie sales.

The group has partnered with Caring Hands, a faith-based nonprofit that operates a food pantry serving southeastern Polk County. 

Caring Hands executive director Ned Looney said helping out the new little free pantry will help fill gaps left during the center's off hours. 

"We recognize not everyone can get there when it's open," he said. 

One of the leaders in constructing these food pantries over the past two years has been Drake University, where students launched a project in 2017 to install 10 of them in the neighborhood around Drake. The students received a $10,000 Wellmark Foundation Community Kickstarter grant for the project. 

One of Drake's pantries sits outside Community Youth Concepts at the corner of Martin Luther King Jr. Parkway and Clark Street. The staff at CYC keep it stocked with donated items like canned fruit, beans, peanut butter and cereal. 

"We probably stock it daily," said office and program coordinator Alicia Vermeer. 

The center keeps a wish list for the pantry and relies on donations and partnerships with local businesses. Executive director Amy Croll said many families have difficulty finding healthy food and protein to eat in their neighborhood, with many single parent households and limited access to groceries. 

People of all ages use it, she said, particularly students and the elderly. 

Grand View University installed a little food pantry at Luther Memorial Church on its campus. Director of student involvement and new student programs Heidi Pries said it is regularly stocked with items like peanut butter and bread, granola bars and canned soup. It is used by students, neighborhood children and older community members. 

Luke Elzinga, communications manager for DMARC, which operates the metro's largest food pantry network, said he sees the grassroots movement as a positive sign that more people want to become involved.

"I think it really shows that awareness about the issue of food insecurity in our community is rising," he said. "There are more people who are willing to address the issue."

Elzinga said even with low unemployment and a strong stock market, DMARC has seen an increasing need for food assistance across the metro. 

"For a lot of working-class people, inflation is rising at a faster rate than their wages are," he said. 

The pantry served a record 21,000 people last November, a 14 percent increase from the previous year. Elzinga said the pantry expects to surpass that number by 1,000 to 2,000 people this month.

November is traditionally the pantry's highest-trafficked month as people seek to make room in their budgets for Thanksgiving dinners and Christmas gifts, Elzinga said. 

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For those thinking of donating to a little free pantry, Elzinga recommends selecting foods that won't freeze outside. 

Little Free Pantries in the metro

• A Helping Hand, 12 locations in the Ankeny area (423 W. First St.; Mel Ray trailer park; 1313 N.W. Beechwood St.; 4807 N.W. Fifth St.; 1003 S.W. Third St.; 2081 S.E. Windover Drive; United Church of Christ, 602 S.E. Delaware; Presbyterian church, 317 S.E. Trilein Drive; 801 S.E. Belmont Drive; Ankeny Funeral Home, 1510 W. First St.; Holy Trinity Lutheran Church, 517 S.W. Des Moines St. and 517 S.W. Elm St.

• Community Youth Concepts, 1446 Martin Luther King, Jr. Parkway, DesMoines
• Drake Little Free Pantry, 2507 University Ave., Des Moines
• Norwalk Area Little Free Pantry, 4380 Wakonda Drive, Norwalk