First Security Announces Donation Blitz to Help Local Food Pantries

It’s a shocking number: 35,450.

According to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank, that's the number of people in their 16-county coverage area who are considered food insecure. Of that number, 11,180 are children. According to Susan Entriken, Northeast Iowa Food Bank Outreach Manager, everyone is at risk of becoming food insecure.

“It is not knowing where your next meal is coming from,” Entriken said. “You could be a working person and have been doing fine, and then lost a job, and now you find yourself struggling to make ends meet. Or you could be a family of four with two working parents and normally living paycheck to paycheck but doing just fine, and somebody fell and broke their arm and now you have an ER visit. That’s going to make you food insecure for the month.”

“First Security is committed to meeting the community’s needs, and it’s clear that food insecurity is a major need,” said First Security Marketing Manager Matt Bradley. “That’s why we decided to kick off summer this year with a donation blitz to help as many food banks, pantries, and backpack programs as we can.”

Because summertime is typically a slower time for donations to food pantries, First Security chose it as an opportune time to give support. The bank made 10 donations of $250 each to organizations throughout its North-Central Iowa footprint:

$1 donated to these programs can pay for up to four meals!

First Security has committed to donating regularly to organizations that feed our community, and we'll also be providing volunteers to the Northeast Iowa Food Bank's mobile food pantry.

To see a video featuring Susan Entriken, visit the First Security YouTube channel.