Board told 2,000 county residents need monthly food help

By BRYCE KELLY

Mt. Pleasant News

Neal Abbott, executive director of the Food Bank of Southern Iowa, gave a presentation to the Henry County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday regarding the food bank?s services, stating that current statistics show Henry County has a 14.3 percent food insecurity rate.

?This means that about 2,000 people currently living in Henry County need some sort of food assistance at some point during each month,? said Abbott. ?Our job at Food Bank of Southern Iowa is to help local agencies in the county get the food and resources they need to assist those individuals.?

Currently, the Food Bank of Southern Iowa provides services to 13 counties in Iowa. A non-profit organization, its headquarters are housed in Ottumwa.

Out of the 13 counties the organization serves, 23 percent of the population lives with the need for food to supplement their daily or monthly nutritional needs, according to the organization?s statistical figures.

Locally, the food bank distributes food products to agencies like the Fellowship Cup and Community Action of Southeast Iowa. According to Ken Brown, director of the Fellowship Cup, the food that is provided from the Food Bank of Southern Iowa is vital to the success and continuation of many of the Fellowship Cup?s food-related services.

?What we get from the food bank is really amazing,? said Brown. ?We are seeing a growing demand for food assistance in Henry County, and some of the families we see are coming in on a regular basis for food.?

Brown says the Fellowship Cup?s Summer Sacks program, which provides sack lunches to Henry County students who might get free and reduced lunches through their school, is also seeing an uptick in use this summer. Some of the food given out within the Summer Sacks program comes from the Food Bank of Southern Iowa.

?Hunger and food insecurity can be a major issue in any community,? said Abbott. ?Hunger effects adults and children in different ways, and can be a major issue in the family system. We work with the goal of ultimately alleviating hunger in the counties we serve.?

According to Abbott, hunger and food insecurity can lead to poor work or school performance, health problems and social insecurities, among other things.

Dennis Ostrander, of Community Action of Southeast Iowa, certainly agrees with Abbott?s perspective on the matter, and insists that the Food Bank of Southern Iowa is a great resource to have.

?At Community Action we do counsel families and provide them with financial planning counseling and other nutrition-related resources,? Ostrander said. ?Our goal is to help make families and individuals as self-sufficient as possible, and to be a partner in improving quality of life for everyone we serve. The Food Bank of Southern Iowa is a great partner in that.?

Local entities like the Fellowship Cup and Community Action of Southeast Iowa do regularly take donations to help further their work to eliminate food needs in Henry County. The Food Bank of Southern Iowa also depends on donations from food donors, both corporate and private.

For more information on the Food Bank of Southern Iowa, contact 641-682-3403.

The board also heard from Henry County engineer, Jake Hotchkiss, who reported that W55/Franklin Avenue is closed to thru traffic at this time as paving has begun in that area.

Hotchkiss also reported that both the Marsh Avenue Bridge project and the 320th Street Riverbank Stabilization project are still on hold due to weather-related issues.

Finally from Hotchkiss, he opened bids for the Henry County Secondary Roads Department fuel contracts. Hotchkiss will bring his bid recommendation to the board for approval at a later date.

Other items discussed on the agenda included the following:

? Henry County Conservation director, John Pullis, gave a review of the Henry County Conservation board meeting from Monday evening

? The board reviewed quarterly reports from the Henry County Sheriff?s Office and the Henry County Recorder?s Office

After speaking with the Henry County Attorney, the board responded to a previous question from Lynn Whaley regarding a termination date of a waste contract with the county. According to the county?s attorney, the termination date of the contract in question is March 20, 2016