Ames Food at First

posted on Thursday, July 14, 2016

Next stop, Ames Food at First where a group of generous volunteers helped our delivery crew unload 30 cases of pork loins, a total of 360 pork loins. Serving 42,000 individuals per year, this large operation could use every single one of those pork loins in just a week!

“We could easily go through this pork in a week,” said pantry coordinator, Patty Rewerts. “We are a large scale operation with many moving pieces. The individuals we serve can come through the pantry three times a week but on top of the pantry we also serve a meal every single day.”

Food at First has been running for 13 years now with Patty serving as coordinator for the last year. Patty says that close to 300 people will go through the pantry a week and around 80 individuals show up for the meals each day.

“Our volunteer base is amazing. To organize and run the meal service, we have 30 volunteers that come in per day and 200 cooks total that work to prepare the meals,” said Patty.

With all the services and resources Food at First provides, it’s hard to believe they aren’t funded by anyone and rely solely on community donations, speaking volumes to the generosity of the Ames community.

We’re happy to be a contribution to Ames Food at First and the wonderful volunteers who help provide so much for their community!