Capitol Notebook: Iowa sends 300K meals to Ukraine

WEST DES MOINES — Roughly 300,000 meals packaged by Iowans will be shipped to Ukraine to help feed families impacted by the Russian military invasion there.

The effort was a joint project between the state of Iowa, the West Des Moines-based charity Meals from the Heartland, and Hy-Vee, which made a $50,000 donation and whose employees volunteered to package the meals.

The United Nations has warned that millions of Ukrainians may soon face serious food insecurity because of the ongoing conflict.

“To our friends in Ukraine we're sending much love and hope from Iowa, and it's coming soon,” Reynolds said Tuesday during a news conference at a Hy-Vee-owned conference center where volunteers were packing meals.

Reynolds after the news conference planned to help the volunteers package meals.

Reynolds said the entire process was being supported by donations, and that the state will incur no direct expenses.

“The outpouring of support has been remarkable,” she said.

CHILD CARE STAFF, RATIOS: The ratio of child care workers relative to children would be reduced, and 16- and 17-year-olds could work unsupervised in child care facilities under legislation approved by the House.

Under the bill, child care centers could operate with one worker to every seven 2-year-olds, and one worker to every 10 3-year-olds.

Republicans said the legislation is designed to help address a shortage of child care workers by giving child care centers the flexibility to employ younger workers. Democrats argued the legislation will not help address the child care workforce shortage, and that 16- and 17-year-olds should not be allowed to work unsupervised in a child care setting.

House File 2198 passed the House on a 52-42 vote, with only one Democrat joining Republicans in support. It now goes to Reynolds for her consideration. She introduced a similar proposal earlier this year, and is likely to sign the bill into law.

Gazette Des Moines Bureau