Dan - Rockwell City Little Free Pantry Captain
posted on Friday, February 11, 2022
Our final Little Free Pantry Captain spotlight story takes us to Rockwell City where sow supervisor, Dan, and his wife give back to this Homegrown Iowa community by maintaining their Little Free Pantry.
“As a father, I worry about the kids in our community who don’t have access to food in the summer months. As a teacher and a mother, I know my wife feels the same way,” said Dan. “You can really see how kids are impacted when you look at what gets taken from the pantry. It’s the baby supplies, the little hats and gloves, things that you know aren’t going to an adult. It’s so rewarding to realize just how important this is to the kids.”
Installed outside of the Rockwell City Church of Christ, the Rockwell City Little Free Pantry is bright, colorful and kid-friendly; it features images of the children’s play area, agriculture and of course pigs.
In addition to offering emergency food resources to families who have limited access to pantries or community shelters, our Little Free Pantries contain children’s necessities not covered by the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), Women, Infant and Children (WIC) or other governmental support programs like bottles, diapers and hygiene products. These products are essential to meet the growing need in the Rockwell City area.
“I would say there is a lot of need based on what my wife sees as a teacher at the school,” explained Dan. “She helped me realize there are a lot of the kids in the community who are from low-income families. There are gaps to fill there.”
Through his work with the Little Free Pantry, Dan has become more aware of the needs of low-income families in the Rockwell City community and seen that need firsthand.
“One day I was at the dollar store buying new supplies to stock the pantry. As I was checking me out, the clerk told me that she had gotten some similar items from the pantry outside the church for her child,” he said. “She described how great it was that she could get the stuff she needed for her family. It was such an unexpected but cool moment.”
Because they know the need for a program like this exists in their community, Dan and his wife work hard to make sure the pantry is always cared for and stocked. The couple takes great pride in their contributions to the program.
“I think this is a great addition to the town, and I’m proud that I can help make it a reality for the community,” said Dan. “A project like this shows just how committed Iowa Select Farms is to their employees and communities. They really care.”
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