who we are
We depend on our incredible volunteers (there's more than 100 of us!) who help us five days per week to bring food into the Pantry and then redistribute food to area families. We operate with extremely low overhead! We are a faith-based, non-profit charity organization, serving thousands of NE Iowa families experiencing food insecurity. More than 15 area faith communities have representation on our board and among our volunteers.
As a faith-based organization, the Decorah Community Food Pantry shares food with local Iowans facing food insecurity. We strive to interact with clients in a welcoming and respectful manner.
When you support our organization, you should feel good knowing that your generosity means our neighbors in need have access to good nutrition.
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Our organization started as a ministry of First Lutheran Church in 1996 and grown a lot since our beginning. In 2017 we were incorporated as an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization. Our volunteers and board members come from all over Decorah and surrounding communities. What we all share is passion for doing what we can to eradicate hunger and food-access issues in our community.
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We depend on the generosity of individual donors, church congregations, corporate partners, community organizations, and grants to provide the hundreds-of-thousands of pounds of food we distribute each year in NE Iowa. We are truly a "Community" Pantry!
We are so grateful to all who give time, money, or food to our important work.
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Our Board Members are charged with ensuring the Food Pantry's work is sustainable and aligned with its mission for years and years to come. Most represent a local faith community.
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Steven Zittergruen - President, Good Shepherd Lutheran
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Nancy Ruen - Vice President, First United Methodist
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Martha Kane - Secretary, Saint Benedict Catholic
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David Scott, Treasurer
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Bob Hibbing, Assistant Treasurer - Lifehouse
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Jeff Leeper, Decorah Covenant
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Susan Herndon, Decorah Friends
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Jon Hart, First Lutheran
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Dianne Borowski, Glenwood Lutheran
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Lalie Madriguera, Unitarian Universalist
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Terry Sparkes, United Church of Christ
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Rachel Hanson, Washington Prairie Lutheran
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Charlie Smock, Decorah Lutheran
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Carol Tebbenoff, Grace Episcopal
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Nancy Pfile, Prairie Lakes
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Luther Snow, Good Shepherd Lutheran
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We have so many friends and community partners that we won't try to name them all. We are beyond grateful to our donors, big and small, and to community organizations and businesses whose generosity make what we do possible. We also need to thank our partner organization, the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, which helps us access much of the food we then pass on to our clients.