Decorah High School students and staff donated a record amount of money for the Decorah Community Food Pantry. A grand total of $4252.22 was collected, well over $800 more than last year. 

To prepare for the money drive, members of FFA and Community Club recently met with Food Pantry Director Matt Tapscott on a Saturday morning to discuss the program and offer some help. After learning more about the pantry, students stocked shelves, cleaned freezers and carts, vacuumed, and other tasks. It was an excellent kick off to the food drive; the students came away with a better understanding of the pantry and its needs. One statistic stood out to them: the number of clients who use the pantry has doubled since January, and out of the 46,440 food insecure people living in northeast Iowa, 14,500 of them are children.

FFA member Kyleigh Batterson remarked, “It was wonderful to see our school come together to help out our community. I am thankful for all the opportunities we had this year to further understand food insecurities in our community and act upon them.”

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FFA and Community Club members who helped with the donation collection:
Front row (l-r): Jenna Hartz, Chloe Reiser, Ellen Rooney, Jensen Korsness,  Kathryn Kelly
Back row (l-r): Rachel Mikkelson, Kyleigh Batterson, Hannah Schnitzler, Morgan Moen, and Kamryn Werges
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FFA and Community Club members who volunteered at the pantry on the Saturday before the event present the money collected to Director Matt Tapscott and volunteers.

Photo ID (l-r): Volunteer Jon Hart, Kyleigh Batterson, Addison Wemark, volunteer Kevin Rockwell, Director Matt Tapscott, Natalie Goodner, and Hannah Schnitzler.