Our DMIEC community works to address food insecurity issues in the Des Moines metro area via a special collection for the DMARC Emergency Food Pantries on the fourth Sunday of every month.

On November 3rd, the Des Moines Area Religious Council (DMARC) Food Pantry Network assisted 2,494 unique individuals – setting a single-day record for the most people assisted. This is the busiest day on record in the 50-year history of the network of Des Moines metro pantries and the start of an extremely challenging period for our neighbors living without support from SNAP. Of the people assisted yesterday, 1 in 3 were currently enrolled in SNAP. Earlier this year, DMARC recorded the four busiest months of its nearly 50-year history.  Nearly 29,000 people used at least one of DMARC’s 14 pantries in January and over 79,000 unique individuals have done so in fiscal year 2025.  Please see additional information on recent food pantries usage here. with a special update about the new SNAP situation.

To learn more, please visit the DMARC Food Pantries website https://www.dmarcunited.org/food/  Read DMARC’s most recent quarterly newsletter here. To learn about DMARC’s new executive director, click here. For the latest DMARC news, click here. 

Here are two ways to donate:

• Via special envelopes available at DMIEC on in-person fourth Sundays. Please write checks to “DMARC,” include a note with/on your check indicating that you are part of the DMIEC community, put the check in the envelope, and put the envelope in the collection basket.
• Send donation checks directly to DMARC. Please write checks to “DMARC” and mail to DMARC at its *new address,* 100 Army Post Road, Des Moines, IA 50315. Please include a note with your check indicating that you are part of the DMIEC community.