15 Iowa food pantries to donate time, money, & food to this holiday season
Looking to give back this holiday season? Discover 15 Iowa food pantries you can volunteer at or donate money or food to.
Food plays a major role in most holiday celebrations, from turkey and stuffing at Thanksgiving to ham and gingerbread cookies at Christmas. But for some Iowans, putting food on the table, regardless of the time of year, is a challenge.
Food pantries are a critical resource for many people facing hunger, and these organizations often rely on help from volunteers to keep their operations running smoothly. If you have spare time, money, or food this holiday season and are interested in helping out one of Iowa’s many food pantries, keep reading to learn where and how you can do so.
1. Ankeny Food Pantry
IMPACT Community Action Partnership accepts volunteers at its Ankeny Food Pantry on an ongoing basis. After completing orientation, volunteers can help stock shelves, organize, count, and weigh donations, prepare items for pick up and delivery, assist shoppers, and bag groceries.
Address: 641 S. Ankeny Blvd., Suite H, Ankeny
2. CommUnity Crisis Services
Volunteers for CommUnity Crisis Services have the opportunity to help out in a variety of ways, from stocking shelves and assisting guests at the food bank to delivering food boxes throughout Iowa City and Hills.
You can also help out at the mobile pantry by unloading and stocking goods, checking in clients, and assisting visitors with their shopping. You can also donate your time to the financial support program by answering phone calls and greeting guests. Those who want to donate money or food can learn how here.
Address: 1121 S. Gilbert Court, Iowa City
3. Coralville Community Food Pantry
The Coralville Community Food Pantry relies heavily on volunteers and provides many different ways to help out. In-pantry volunteer roles range from front desk supervisor to greeter to shopping area helper and stocker. Other volunteer opportunities include community fridge stocker, home delivery driver, and a variety of seasonal roles.
You can also donate money and goods, such as peanut butter, diapers, pet food, and personal care products, to the pantry.
Address: 804 13th Ave., Coralville
4. DMARC
There are multiple ways you can volunteer with Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC), which has a network of 14 partner food pantry sites and mobile pantry sites.
Volunteers can help sort food donations and pack orders for the pantry, assist guests with their shopping, restock shelves, deliver goods to homebound individuals or those without access to transportation, or help operate one of DMARC’s mobile pantry sites. Monetary donations can be made online.
Address: 100 Army Post Rd., Des Moines
5. Food Bank of Iowa
In addition to food sorting roles, the Food Bank of Iowa also accepts volunteers for skills-based positions to perform tasks such as data entry, delivery truck driving, administrative assistance, and special events support. The food bank also needs volunteers who can create inspiration cards for its BackPack Program and sew T-shirt tote bags for partner pantries.
You can also make a one-time or monthly donation here and learn more about food donations and other ways to give here.
Address: 2220 E. 17th St., Des Moines, and 705 W. Main St., Ottumwa
6. Food Bank of Siouxland
Food Bank of Siouxland offers opportunities to volunteer for specific events, such as its Golf Classic in September and Siouxland Food Festival in June, as well as on a more regular basis, performing tasks like cleaning its warehouse and sorting and boxing up food items.
You can also host your own food drive, donate money or food, or include the food bank in your will.
Address: 1313 11th St., Sioux City
7. HACAP
Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) serves nine counties in Eastern Iowa and relies on assistance from volunteers to do so. Food market volunteers help shoppers fill out paperwork and navigate the market, unload food and stock shelves, check donation expiration dates, and maintain the shopping area.
You can also be of assistance by prepping inventory for pick up and delivery, preparing food orders for schools, and performing quality checks on bakery items. Other ways to help include making a monetary donation, holding a food drive, adopting a classroom, or giving a legacy gift (via your estate plans).
Address: View HACAP’s locations here.
8. Holy Trinity Lutheran Church
Holy Trinity Lutheran Church operates a food pantry every Tuesday from noon to 6 p.m. Volunteer opportunities include working at the pantry when it’s open, sorting food on Sundays, stocking shelves on Mondays, picking up bread from partners on Thursdays, and helping out in the garden as needed.
You can also donate food and other goods (see what items are needed) or money.
Address: 517 SW. Des Moines St., Ankeny
9. Meals from the Heartland
Meals from the Heartland accepts volunteers for a variety of roles. As a packager, you’ll fill, weigh, seal, and box meal bags. Bulk meal packagers perform similar duties but on a much larger scale. If you work on the bucket brigade, you’ll help keep the ingredient bins at each station stocked with goods.
If you want to make a monetary donation, you can do so online.
Address: 357 Lincoln St., West Des Moines
10. North Liberty Community Pantry
North Liberty Community Pantry hosts drop-in volunteer shifts (no orientation required) twice per month, during which you can perform tasks like stocking food, sorting donations, cleaning, and packaging items. You can also attend an open garden session to help harvest produce for the pantry.
If you choose to attend an orientation session, your volunteer options expand to include helping shoppers, delivering groceries, supporting the fundraising team, distributing clothes at the pantry’s community closet, and serving on a leadership committee.
North Liberty Community Pantry also accepts qualified charitable distributions (donated from your Individual Retirement Account).
Address: 350 W. Penn St., North Liberty
11. Northeast Iowa Food Bank
Northeast Iowa Food Bank, located in Waterloo, serves 16 counties in Iowa and offers several different volunteer opportunities. Volunteers can work in the pantry, stocking shelves and bringing food in from the warehouse, ride along in a delivery truck, or make child-friendly meals in the kids’ cafe.
If you’re short on time but still want to help out, you can donate food at the food bank’s donation drop-off location. Some items the food bank currently needs include canned meats, soups, fruits, and vegetables, peanut butter, rice, cereal, pasta, and personal care products.
Address: 1605 Lafayette St., Waterloo
12. River Bend Food Bank
As a River Bend Food Bank volunteer, you can help guests retrieve food at the pantry, deliver food, or sort and pack food. You can also make one-time or recurring monetary donations to the food bank, which serves 23 counties in eastern Iowa and western Illinois.
Address: 4010 Kimmel Dr., Davenport
13. Table to Table
Table to Table offers the following volunteer positions: food rescue route volunteer, fleet and facilities volunteer, and reception volunteer. Volunteers must be able to commit to 10 to 30 hours of work, though this can be spread out over several months.
During the harvest season (usually from June to October), Table to Table also needs volunteers to help collect and distribute fresh produce. To make a monetary donation online, click here.
Address: 1049 US-6 E., Iowa City
14. University of Iowa
The University of Iowa’s student-run food pantry accepts volunteers who are able to commit to at least one hour of service per week for a full semester. Public-facing pantry opportunities and inventory shifts are available.
You may also drop off items you wish to donate at the pantry, purchase something from its Amazon wish list (which will get shipped to the pantry), or make a monetary donation.
Address: G200 (on the ground floor of the Iowa Memorial Union), 125 N. Madison St., Iowa City
15. Urbandale Food Pantry
Urbandale Food Pantry volunteers greet visitors and help them find food, keep the shelves stocked, and pick up donations throughout Polk County. You can also donate money to the organization or give goods by hosting a food or personal care drive, creating an Amazon wish list, or growing extra produce in your garden.
Address: 7901 Douglas Ave., Urbandale
Our stories may be republished online or in print under Creative Commons license CC BY-NC-ND 4.0. We ask that you edit only for style or to shorten, provide proper attribution and link to our web site. Please see our republishing guidelines for use of photos and graphics.
