Hey, Neighbors! (A Pantry Blog)

A Cool New Place at the Pantry

January 19, 2024

We are thrilled to announce the installation of a third refrigerator at the Pantry. Thanks to a grant from the Iowa Department of Natural Resources, NLCP was able to purchase a new refrigerator to increase our storage capacity. 

Each week, Farmer’s Hen House donates 24 boxes of 15 dozen eggs. In the past, we have only been able to accept between 18 and 20 boxes because we do not have enough cold storage space. The need for food from our neighbors has been so great that we run out of eggs each week. Unfortunately, this led to a limit of 2 dozen eggs per family per week. Though equal, this practice has not been equitable. A household of 8 received the same resources as a household of 1 – and making a breakfast casserole once doesn’t go very far for a family of 8.

With the increased demand for food among our neighbors, NLCP never wants to be in a position to turn down a donation. This was the catalyst for Leslie Alvarez, Director of Operations at NLCP to pursue a grant from the Iowa DNR to expand our capacity. “It made my heart and stomach hurt to find out that we were turning away eggs each week when we have a limit imposed on families and we’re not even taking what’s given to us,” said Alvarez. “I brainstormed with volunteers some ideas and we came up with the idea to squeeze another fridge in our space so we could accept all of the eggs donated to us and eliminate the limit on families,” Alvarez continued.

Now, with the installation of the new refrigerator, NLCP can accept the full donation from Farmer’s Hen House, which means we will have an additional 60 – 90 DOZEN eggs each week! With this change, we will also be able to remove our limit on eggs so families of all sizes can take what they need for the week.

This is a wonderfully simple example of what NLCP can do when we have more space. Stay tuned for BIG news about increasing the space at the Pantry to meet our community’s needs.