Perry Food Emergency Pantry Manager Lou Hoger reflects on a recent donation that was given.

The third quarter meeting for 100+ People for Perry was held on August 26th, where the organization donated $6,000 to the Perry Food Pantry. Hoger admits that the closure of the Tyson Foods Pork Plant was tricky to navigate through. 

He says that he was under the impression that the food pantry could support an additional 35 households, and if it was more than that, the organization would need to shift strategy from letting people shop to controlling the amount of food they receive. Hoger reveals the amount of households that were assisted this summer.

“In June, we had 163 different households. In July, we had 202 households. We just finished the month of August with 202 to 205 (households).”

Hoger stresses with that jump in households, donations from other organizations are always appreciated.

“Those funds go a long way, especially when you look at the fact that we can get commodities from the Food Bank of Iowa for 16 cents a pound.”

Hoger describes that the pantry is in need of cans of fruit, cans of soup, bags of rice, miscellaneous items of mustard, ketchup, salad dressing, and cake mixes. The Perry Food Pantry is open Tuesdays from 10am to 12:30pm and Thursdays from 3-6pm at 3112 Willis Avenue, in Perry.