Iowa City Today

The City of Iowa City and CommUnity Crisis Services are teaming up to help families in need.

Members of the community are encouraged to help "stuff the bus" with food donations to be distributed through CommUnity's food bank. An Iowa City Transit bus will be parked at Waterfront HyVee, 1720 Waterfront Drive, to collect donations. The dates and times the bus will be available are:

• Wednesday, June 14, 2-7 p.m.
• Thursday, June 15, 2-7 p.m.
• Friday, June 16, 2-7 p.m.
• Saturday, June 17, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.
• Sunday, June 18, 10 a.m. – 4 p.m.

Donation barrels will also placed near the entrance of HyVee to accept donations outside of bus hours.

The need is great

CommUnity Food Bank is currently distributing about 6,000 pounds of food to around 200 households per day. The Iowa City-based nonprofit is expected to surpass 60,000 visits by the end of June, shattering the previous record of 52,703 in Fiscal Year 2017. At the same time, in-kind donations of food products are down 43 percent this fiscal year compared to the year before.

Changes to SNAP legislation on the horizon will make fewer Iowans eligible to receive assistance at the grocery store, and they will be left to rely more heavily, if not completely, on the Food Bank to feed their families.

CommUnity expects to serve more than 7,500 Johnson County children this summer. When school is out, many families lose a dependable source of breakfast and lunch for their children.

How to help

In addition to the Transit bus at Waterfront HyVee, food donations can be dropped off in the alley behind the CommUnity Food Pantry, 1045 Highway 6 East. The donation door is located near the orange section of the mural on the back of the building. Please ring the doorbell for assistance.

Donations are accepted Monday through Friday, 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m.; and Saturdays from 9 a.m. to 1:30 p.m.

The most-needed items include:

• Financial Donations
• Canned Fruit in Juice
• Peanut Butter
• Canned Meat
• Baby Diapers
• Baby Formula
• Rice and Pasta
• Hearty Soups and Stews
• Toilet Paper
• Laundry Detergent
• Anything you enjoy!

Information on making financial contributions directly to CommUnity Crisis Services can be found here. 

Original source can be found here.