 Rodney McKee, left, and Pastor Ted Morelock unload the trays of ground pork at the Montezuma Food Pantry on Tuesday, April 4. The donation was made possible thanks to local pork producers and the Iowa Pork Producers Association Pork in the Pantry program. By J.O. Parker
The Montezuma Food Pantry was the recipient of four trays of one-pound packages of ground pork delivered on Tuesday, April 4. The donation was made possible thanks to the Pork in the Pantry program through the Iowa Pork Producers Association (IPPA). The IPPA reimburses participating counties up to $1,000 for pork products being donated to local food pantries. The pork was raised locally and donated by area producers. Brant Smothers, an independent pork producer in rural Montezuma who raises 5,000 head of hogs at a time, said it was nice to see his and other local producers’ hard work go to a good cause. “It’s a lot of hard work to raise hogs,” said Smothers. “At the end of the day, it is nice to see your hard work go toward helping families by providing food for their tables.” Smothers said this pork program is another way that the IPPA helps their local communities. “I give a lot of credit to the IPPA for funding this project,” said Smothers. “It truly is a blessing to receive approximately 150 one-pound packages of ground pork at this time,” said Darla Wilson, the Montezuma Food Pantry Director. “Obtaining large quantities of meat from the food bank has been difficult the past few months, and so the pantry has been offering other items that contain protein such as eggs and canned tuna. We have also been purchasing ground beef at retail prices.” According to Montezuma Food Pantry statistics, since January the pantry has been serving an average of 145 households with groceries, meat and dairy a month. “Approximately 1,100 pounds of the 10,000 pounds of food distributed from the pantry each month is meat, so this is greatly beneficial to our clients,” noted Wilson. “On behalf of them, we are grateful to the IPPA and the local producers for this donation.” Montezuma Food Pantry The Montezuma Food Pantry currently serves Montezuma and the other small communities of Deep River, Malcom, Searsboro, Brooklyn, Guernsey, Hartwick and the Poweshiek County portion of Barnes City, What Cheer and Victor. Families outside of the pantry service area who are in need and stop at the pantry, receive a pre-made box of food funded through the TEFAP, a federal emergency food assistance program that helps low-income families by providing emergency food assistance at no cost. The Montezuma Food Pantry is located at 501 N. Front St., southeast building. Pantry open hours are as follows: Monday – 10 a.m. – 12 p.m.; Wednesday – 2 – 4:30 p.m.; Thursday – 4:30 – 6 p.m.; and Friday – 12:30 – 2 p.m. The pantry can be reached at [email protected] or by phone at 641-623-3275.
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