ATLANTIC, IOWA – Southwest Iowa Planning Council (SWIPCO) recently helped the city of Atlantic obtain a grant for funds that will help the Atlantic Food Pantry, a nonprofit that provides grocery items for area residents in need, deliver on its mission for the year. The funding comes from an Iowa Economic Development Authority award of federal COVID-19 dollars and requires matching funds from the community to meet a growing need facing the community. To receive the entire grant amount, however, the Atlantic Food Pantry must raise a matching amount of $25,000 to bolster the impact of the award. For every $1 raised by the pantry, an additional $4 becomes available from the grant for food purchases by the pantry, which makes local financial support extremely important.

Alexsis Fleener, SWIPCO Community Development Director, says “Grants are rarely, if ever, intended to replace an organization’s local fundraising. Especially for an organization with an ongoing mission like the Atlantic Food Pantry, the need is greater than any single grant can meet, and that’s why it is crucial to partner with members of the community on a continuing basis.”

The Atlantic Food Pantry has distributed an increasing amount of food to Cass County residents experiencing food insecurity. Since 2019, the number served annually has tripled and the cost has increased by an even larger amount.

“Food sits ready to be bagged and distributed at the Atlantic Food Pantry.” (Photo courtesy CJ Petersen, SWIPCO Communications Coordinator.

The increased need for service was exacerbated due to the COVID-19 pandemic when the community saw increased food insecurity. As the public health emergency ends, the need for food assistance remains but assistance programs are returning largely to pre-pandemic levels. Ken Burkhart, a volunteer leader with the Atlantic Food Pantry, says “With costs up across the board, particularly for food, we’ve actually seen the need and the client numbers increase in the past 2 months. In line at the pantry, you can feel that.”

Burkhart added, “We feel the pantry assistance is getting to the right population. Income surveys done to qualify for the grant show that the annual incomes of 82% of our client households are at or below the U.S. poverty level, and the rest are well below median family income for Cass County. The average annual income for all households is about $13,500 and well over half the households are seniors.”

The Atlantic Food Pantry has been serving the community since 1982. To become a community partner, send cash or check to “Atlantic Food Pantry” at 19 W 4th Street, Atlantic, IA 50022. Donations to the Atlantic Food Pantry are tax deductible. For more information, call 712-243-5019 during pantry hours on Mondays and Thursdays from 9-11.