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Cedar Rapids, Iowa 52401
Marion, Cedar Rapids leaders approve donations to area food pantries
The move comes less than a week after the end of a government shutdown that delayed the distribution of SNAP funds.
Nov. 21, 2025 9:54 am
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MARION — Just one week before families gather around the dinner table to celebrate Thanksgiving, the cities of Cedar Rapids and Marion have each approved donations of city funds to area food pantries.
The Marion City Council on Thursday approved a $15,000 allocation divided among five Marion food pantries while Cedar Rapids City Council members earlier this week authorized a $25,000 donation to the Hawkeye Area Community Action Program (HACAP) food reservoir.
Both donations were made less than a week after the end of the most recent federal government shutdown, which dragged on for more than six weeks and delayed the distribution of November Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funds before coming to a close late last week.
Iowa SNAP recipients have since received those funds, although officials from both cities stressed that food insecurity remains a pressing community issue.
“We don’t have the November stats yet from HACAP, but I talked to them (this week) and they have not seen a decline yet,” said Marion management analyst Jamie Doyle. “A lot of families utilized these pantries for the first time, and they may continue to utilize them going forward.”
City of Marion, HACAP partnering for food drive
The city of Marion is partnering with Hawkeye Area Community Action Program for a monthlong food drive.
Several city facilities will be accepting non-perishable food items through the end of the month to be delivered to HACAP for distribution to residents experiencing food insecurity.
Donations can be dropped at the following locations during normal business hours:
- Thomas Park Administrative and Operations Facility, 343 Marion Blvd.
- Marion Public Library, 1101 Sixth Ave.
- Marion Police Headquarters, 6315 Highway 151
- Fire Station No. 1, 100 Irish Dr.
Residents are asked to avoid glass packaging. Requested foods include low sodium canned chicken and/or tuna, whole wheat pasta, rice, canned fruits, no-salt-added canned vegetables, reduced/low sodium canned soup, dried beans, nuts, seeds, peanut butter, dried fruit and macaroni and cheese.
Financial donations can be directed to HACAP at hacap.org/donate.
The Marion donation will be divided between five pantries with allocations based upon how many people each typically serves. The funds will come from the hotel/motel tax issued on all overnight lodging stays within the city.
The Well/Church of God 7th Day will receive $6,000 for its weekly food pantry. The city will allocate $3,000 each to the First Baptist Church of Marion’s 29th Street Mission and the Churches of Marion Food Pantry.
The Marion Independent School District and Linn-Mar Community School District also will each receive $1,500 to support their school pantry efforts.
The $25,000 Cedar Rapids donation will go to HACAP, which operates a Hiawatha-based food reservoir that provides resources to pantries across its Eastern Iowa service area.
“HACAP has been a long-trusted food bank for so many people, and it will continue to be,” Cedar Rapids Mayor Tiffany O’Donnell said earlier this month. Fighting food insecurity “is always going to be a worthy cause.”
The municipal donations were part of a much larger push to support area food pantries in recent months to address the shutdown’s significant strain on Iowa’s food security system.
Regional food banks like HACAP reported unprecedented need as SNAP households went weeks without their monthly allotments. To help meet that surge in demand, Iowa’s six regional food banks reached a state-issued $1 million donation-match challenge.
Those contributions — from individuals, businesses and groups including Fareway, the Iowa Pork Producers Association, Hy-Vee, and the state’s three managed-care organizations (Iowa Total Care, Molina Healthcare Iowa and Wellpoint Iowa) — helped stock shelves and maintain capacity during the shutdown.
The Linn County Board of Supervisors also contributed to that push when the board approved an $80,000 grant allocation to HACAP earlier this month.
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