Whether it be through donating or volunteering, Mom’s Meals is always an active participant in the annual national Stamp Out Hunger® food drive. This year, Mom’s Meals collected 348 food or personal care items to donate.
These donations are a part of Mom’s Meals corporate social responsibility efforts to bring awareness to and combat food insecurity.
The Stamp Out Hunger food drive is a national initiative that was created by the letter carriers union as a way to give back to their community. Every second Saturday in May, letter carriers collect donations of non-perishable items and will donate them to a local food pantry. Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) is the local recipient of the Stamp Out Hunger food drive in the greater Des Moines area. Mom’s Meals employees located in the Des Moines metro participated by either bringing in a donation to the office, leaving donations for their letter carrier to pick up, donating money online or volunteering to help DMARC sort the donations.
“Collecting 348 items is not a small task by any means,” said Blake Willadsen, DMARC’s marketing and communications manager. “We really appreciate Mom’s Meals for putting this issue front and center and prioritizing it within their teams.”
According to Willadsen, DMARC received close to 30,000 tons of food through the Stamp Out Hunger food drive.
“One of the most powerful things about the work that goes into a drive like what Mom’s Meals was able to provide is the fact that it raises a lot of awareness about the work that we’re doing,” said Willadsen. “The more that people within our community are aware of what’s going on and understand what’s happening with food insecurity and the greater level of need that there is in just our own backyards, the more we can get people involved.”
Since opening in 1999, Mom’s Meals has been committed to improving life through better nutrition at home. Donations that help reduce food insecurity in the communities we serve align with our mission and continue to be increasingly more important as food insecurity remains high across the country.
“We’re really excited to work with an organization like Mom’s Meals and it was very special when its somebody who’s in our neighborhood who wants to step up and help out however they can.”
Learn how Mom’s Meals is working toward combating food insecurity.