Organizers hope more businesses equals more food donations

Donna Hallett has proudly displayed the gleaming Traveling Turkey Trophy in Hills Bank for the past two years, and the first vice president branch manager for both North Liberty locations is not going to give it up without a fight.

But retaining the trophy - which goes to the business that collects the most donations during the North Liberty Thanksgiving in July food drive - may be more difficult than ever as Hills Bank is joined by 24 other competing businesses, up from last year's six.

Food pantry visits have also grown, reaching record levels for the North Liberty Community Pantry this summer, said Tina DuBois, the pantry's executive director.

And North Liberty is not alone; Johnson County Crisis Center Food Bank and Linn Community Food Bank officials are also reporting marked increases in visits this year.

DuBois said she hopes the expanded pool of participating businesses will generate more than the 10,000 pounds worth of food and financial donations received during last year's event, donations that she said are valuable during the summer months.

“The kids are not in school and at this point the kids that are in need often get breakfast and lunch at school,” she said, noting that total pantry visits this year have jumped seven percent when compared to last year. “So when you are feeding two more meals, that makes a big impact on your food needs.”

The North Liberty Community Pantry is averaging close to 500 total visits a month, and handed out roughly 160,000 pounds of food last year. These totals are something one pantry volunteer attributes to being in the middle of a booming area.

“It seems like the need is becoming greater and greater, and North Liberty is really a growing community,” said Terryl David, a four-year volunteer. “So this year, being able to have more businesses in town [involved] rather than just the financial institutions will be a huge help in getting more food in for our clients.”

Thanksgiving in July is the brainchild of Ron Hall, the executive chef at Mercy Iowa City. And what began 14 years ago with Hall collecting six tons of food has expanded to encompass multiple Eastern Iowa communities - including Iowa City, Coralville and Tiffin.

“Last year we had 43 tons of donations with all the community contributors combined,” Hall said, adding he hopes the event can spread even further to pantries across Iowa. “Take that over 14 years, and you are talking hundreds of tons of food generated from that one idea. But what is important is this year, what happens this year.”

And many of this year's participants said they are excited to live up to last year's totals.

“It is such a great cause and for us, it is really alarming to think of individuals in the Johnson County area that are going hungry,” said Curt Heideman, the market president for US Bank in the Iowa City area.

While one of the new competitors stressed the importance of continuing to raise donations even after the competition has culminated.

“We just wanted to be a blessing to the community,” said Ike Akabogu, the owner of Corridor Dry Cleaners in North Liberty. “Giving back to the community doesn't have to wait till a particular time of the year, it is just something that should be done year-round.”