DES MOINES, Iowa (Sept. 27, 2024) — Food Bank of Iowa’s second Drive Away Childhood Hunger golf tournament, held Sept. 26 and presented by Nationwide, raised $169,588 to help Iowa kids facing food insecurity. The private Talons Golf in Ankeny welcomed 124 golfers, who enjoyed lunch donated by Fareway and the rare opportunity to tour Dennis Albaugh’s vintage car collection. Lou Sipolt served as master of ceremonies and auctioneer at the evening reception, sponsored by the Murphy Family Foundation. Funds raised will support Food Bank of Iowa’s 162 school pantries (and counting!) and its BackPack Program, which serves 4,100 elementary students at 103 schools every week during the school year.

More than 15% of Iowa children face hunger, and 42% rely on free and reduced-price school meals. Children who live in poverty and lack proper nutrition face delayed development, impaired coping skills, behavioral problems and learning difficulties. Food Bank of Iowa CEO Michelle Book says “Thanks to the generosity of Dennis Albaugh and his team, our tremendous sponsors and golfers, we raised enough to provide more than 282,000 meals for Iowa kids who don’t know where they’ll find their next meal. We are incredibly grateful to all who contributed to this successful day.”

In addition to Nationwide, Talons Golf, Fareway and the Murphy Family Foundation, other sponsors included Advanced Automation, Atlantic Coca-Cola Bottling Co., Bank Iowa, Casey’s, ClaimDOC, Doll Distributing, Elder Corp., Innovative Communication Technologies, the Iowa Barbecue Store, Iowa Wild, John Deere, Foster Group, KRM Custom Homes, Mom’s Meals, NCMIC, Peterson Financial Group, the Pork Checkoff, Prairie Meadows, Ruan, Sammons, Sigler, Simonson, Sysco, Top Gun Contractors, the Underwood Family Foundation, Waldinger, Warehouse Barbecue Co. and Willis Automotive.