Ava’s À la carte Food Pantry Needs Support to Get Rolling
What is Ava’s À la carte?
A food pantry cart that will service Bondurant Farrar Students at the Intermediate (7th/8th) building. This is a starter program that can and will grow as we become established. The goal is to find areas of need within our community and fill those gaps with vital resources. Our greatest ongoing need will be community and volunteer support. One of Ava’s favorite book characters, Fancy Nancy, inspired the food pantry name. À la carte, in this case, is fancy for kicking food insecurity to the curb.
Who Will Benefit
1 in 9 Iowa children goes without food, which is why a food pantry is necessary. According to Feeding America, 80,160 children in Iowa face hunger. In an anonymous survey conducted locally in late 2022, twenty-eight local students voluntarily responded yes to needing food. In Iowa, there are food resource programs for students up to the 6th grade. With support, we can fill the gap for kids above the 6th-grade level with this program.
Our Why
Ava’s Way is a promise we made to her, and this foundation is her legacy. Her heart is the beat we live by and honoring her giving nature moves us to action. The second reason, TikTok made us do it. A teacher on TikTok named Mrs. Arensberg, and her care closet videos inspired us to reach out to the school district to find areas of need and ideas to fill them. We are working hard to get the cart rolling.
How You Can Help
We need monetary donations to purchase the cart. Once we have the cart, the next step is collecting grocery store gift cards, food, and monetary donations to keep the cart stocked. We are also seeking several Bondurant businesses that would house a collection receptacle for drop-off food donations. With that being said, we are on the lookout for several lightly used or new 30-gallon (non-toxic) barrels.
When & Where
This is an immediate and ongoing need, so follow along for regular updates. You can find more information on livingavasway.com, Facebook & Instagram.
