Urbandale Food Pantry - General Information

The Urbandale Food Pantry opened its doors in October 2008 to assist Urbandale and Windsor Heights residents in need of food and/or personal care products.  Funded through annual monetary pledges by area churches, the cities of Urbandale and Windsor Heights, and generous donations by citizens and community organizations, the Urbandale Food Pantry is operated under the umbrella of the Urbandale Caring Corps with food distributed by the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC).  For more information on the food pantry, go to www.urbandalecaringcorps.org.

St. Stephen's Support of This Ministry

Even before it opened its doors, our congregation had supported this ministry through financial pledges and  our 2008 Pancakes for Pantry fundraising initiative.  We support the food distribution efforts through regular donations of nonperishable food items to the Des Moines Area Religious Council and through ongoing  direct donations of personal hygiene items.  Personal items needed include shampoo, conditioner, bars of soap, deodorant, toothpaste, toothbrushes, toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels, laundry detergent, sanitary napkins, and diapers.   In cooperation with other area churches, we focus each month on  collection of a different personal hygiene product; members are asked to bring these items to a designated receptacle in the narthex and they are subsequently delivered to the pantry for distribution to their clients.  Here are the items we're collecting for the next few months:

March - laundry detergent
April - diapers
May - deodorant
June - toilet paper, kleenex, paper towels
July - shampoo
August - laundry detergent
September - bars of soap

Marybeth Lytle (marybeth.lytle@gmail.com or 515.270.0813) is the team leader for this initiative.  Please feel free to contact her if you have any questions or would like to be a member of this team.