Welcome to the "Food At First" Web site!

Great news!  Food At First's volunteers were chosen as "Citizens of the Year" by the Ames Tribune!  Click here to read the full article!  Thanks to the Tribune for the WONDERFUL promotion of our program!!

If you didn't see the Food At First piece on the Channel 13 news, you can click here to watch it now.

Before you leave, we encourage you to do one of three things:

(1) join our e-mail list (by sending an e-mail to scott@foodatfirst.com with "subscribe" in the subject line) or our facebook page (by going to www.facebook.com/FoodAtFirst and clicking "Like")

(2) volunteer your time (by clicking on "Volunteer" above)

(3) contribute a few bucks (by clicking on the gold "Donate" button to the right)

There is much more AMAZING stuff happening with the program than would fit in a 5-minute TV piece - for instance, we're now picking up food from the Walmart Supercenter...  over FIVE THOUSAND POUNDS of food per week!!  You can see more by clicking over to www.facebook.com/FoodAtFirst.  We hope you'll consider a donation (small or large!) - there is SO MUCH MORE that we could be doing, if we can get funding for the infrastructure such as utilities, storage space, and the salary for our part-time Coordinator.

Have you heard about our "Rapid Response Team"?  The "RRT" enables us to take advantage of immediate opportunities - for instance, a grocery store may have a bunch of produce that they can give us, but only if we can pick it up within the next few hours before the next shipment arrives.  Here's how it works: we send out a text message to everyone on the Team - those who happen to be available (usually for an hour or less) reply, so that we know if we have enough people to make it happen.  If you can't help, you simply don't reply.  But the fun part is seeing a BIG donation that would otherwise be thrown away, brought into our facility for those in need!  If you'd like to join the team, simply e-mail your cell phone number to Scott at scott@foodatfirst.com - he'll send a test message, then you'll hear about all future opportunities!  (Typically once every few weeks.)

 

How the Food at First program works

Everyone is invited to the meal, and everyone has their own reason for attending. The major focus is to help those who are not able to simultaneously meet their basic needs of food and shelter.
All meals are served at First United Methodist Church, except for Wednesdays at the Ames Woman's Club. At the church, we're in the Fellowship Hall - enter the South door, and go down the stairs to your left.  At the Club, we're in the main room - enter the West door, and you're there!
The food is purchased from the Food Bank of Iowa, as well as through local grocers and wholesalers with whom Food At First has special arrangements to save us money.
Organizations and congregations who prepare and serve meals are encouraged to contribute whatever they feel is appropriate, in terms of monetary donations, but there is no requirement to contribute financially in order to participate in the Food At First ministry.
Meals are currently served on Sunday through Friday nights, and Saturday midday, no matter what the weather! (5:30 - 6:15 on weekdays, 11:30 - 12:15 Saturdays)  We are also doing a trial BREAKFAST meal, each Wednesday from 7:30 to 8:15 AM.
Two shifts of workers prepare and serve / clean up after the meals:
Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Thursday, and Friday... (at FUMC)
3:30 - 5:30 PM - preparation (4 people needed)
5:15 - 6:45 PM - serve / clean up (8 people needed)
Wednesday BREAKFAST... (at FUMC)
6:30 - 7:30 AM - preparation (2 people needed)
7:15 - 8:45 AM - serve / clean up (4 people needed)
Wednesday DINNER... (at Ames Woman's Club)
3:00 - 5:00 PM - preparation (4 people needed)
5:15 - 6:45 PM - serve / clean up (8 people needed)
Saturday... (at FUMC)
10:00 - 11:30 AM - preparation (3 people needed)
11:15 - 12:45 PM - serve / clean up (6 people needed)
Anyone 5th Grade or older is welcome to sign up for a volunteer position, and younger children are certainly welcome to "hang out with mom or dad"!

Numerous organizations & congregations provide crews for meals on a regular basis, including St. Cecilia Catholic, St. Thomas Catholic, ISU Dairy Science Club, Mary Greeley Medical Center, United Church of Christ - Congregational, St. John's Episcopal, ISU Habitat for Humanity, several ISU classes, ISU Black Engineering Society, St. Patricks / Memorial Lutheran (Nevada), and First United Methodist Church.

Local businesses have generously donated food and supplies, including Barilla, Hy-Vee, Mayfair Cleaners, North Grand Farmers Market, Ames Downtown Farmers Market, Plant a Row for the Hungry, Panera, Cub Foods, Hickory Park Restaurant, Harmony Farms (Nevada), Oxford Farms (Huxley), Story Book Orchard (Story City), and DeMoss Farms.

In summary, Food At First is essentially the Ames Soup Kitchen - but we're a very DIFFERENT kind of soup kitchen!  We hope that you will stop by soon, to volunteer or just enjoy a meal!

Resources for preparing and delivering meals are located here.

For a history of the program, click here, and for a Microsoft PowerPoint presentation describing the program, click here.

For a list of past menus, click here.

For information about one of our beloved Head Chefs, Bryan Jensen, who had a profound and lasting impact on Food At First before his untimely death, please click here.

To contact the coordinator of "Food At First", Scott Walker, send an e-mail to scott@foodatfirst.com or call him at 344-HELP (515-344-4357). Thanks for visiting, and come back soon!

To visit the Story County Resource Guide, which lists services available to those who are hungry, homeless, or have other needs, click here. For an interesting look at the income required to be able to afford an apartment in Ames, click here.