Help the Urbandale Food Pantry on MLK Day 2014!

January 20, 2014 | 9am to 2pm
Urbandale Public Library Meeting Rooms
3520 - 86th St., Urbandale, Iowa

On January 20, 2014, bring:

• new (unused, unopened, and unexpired) food and personal care items
• warm scarves and hats (especially hand-knitted) 
• monetary gifts 

to help the Urbandale Food Pantry serve Urbandale and Windsor Heights residents in need.  Children are welcome!  Since the first event in January 2009, then called Give Care * Warmth * Art, we have collected over 6,600 items for the Urbandale Food Pantry. 


Thanks to the Urbandale Public Library for again hosting our event in its Meeting Rooms. 

also part of the event...

Knitting Together

We invite knitters and crocheters to come and knit/crochet with us for awhile (or just drop off your handmade scarves, etc.).

Coloring Together

When you stop in that day, take a moment to color a special picture for the Urbandale Food Pantry.

Watching "A Place at the Table"

This acclaimed documentary about hunger in the US will be playing throughout the event.

Pledging Action

Pledge to take action against hunger and food insecurity during 2014.

AND for Urbandale Library Patrons:  

Food for Fines
1 item = $1 in fines

Every 1 donated food or new personal care item = $1 in fines on one patron account at the Urbandale Public Library. NO LIMIT on number of items!

Thank you for helping our neighbors in need!

Questions about the event?  Contact Jane at knittingcare@gmail.com

Martin Luther King Day of Service 2014

The Day of Service celebrating Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.'s birthday will be Monday, January 20, 2014. Stay tuned for more information about the 2014 event!

Thank you for helping the Urbandale Food Pantry serve our community!

On January 21, 2013, Martin Luther King Day, people all around the Des Moines metro area donated approximately 1674 items, including over 191 knitted items, 971 personal care items, and 612 food items for the Urbandale Food Pantry to distribute. They also colored 16 cards of hope to be given to Pantry recipients, and signed 5 pledges for action during the rest of the year. Financial contributions for the Pantry totaled $733.

From 2pm (when our event ended) to 9pm, the Library's Food for Fines program brought in an additional 708 items (682 food, 22 personal care, & 4 hats/scarves)! That brings the combined total of items collected to: 2,382! Thank you to the Library for its continued collaboration on this Day of Service!

From 9am to 2pm, more than 140 participants and volunteers donated items, knitted on site, pledged action, colored, watched the inauguration, or helped staff the event by serving at the front tables, counting and sorting items, packing and loading items, unloading at the Pantry, and more. The volunteers staffing the event included two AmeriCorps volunteers with the Red Cross, two 17-year-old foreign exchange students from Indonesia, two Urbandale Food Pantry volunteers, three community volunteers, and a large group of managers from area Starbucks.

Thank you for supporting our community and making the Martin Luther King National Day of Service a day ON, not a day off!

*** Special thanks to the Urbandale Public Library for providing space for this event every year and for its "Food for Fines" program that collects additional items for the Urbandale Food Pantry after this event ends for the day. ***

For more photos, click the 2013 Photos tab at the top.