Food At First

Thank you to Bayer and the Bayer Fund for supporting Food at First’s Kindness Services program!

Kindness Services goes beyond providing food. It helps us be good neighbors by sharing abundance, connecting people with helpful resources and offering a hand up when it’s needed. That includes maintaining a dining room where every guest is welcomed and treated with dignity.

We’re grateful to the Bayer team for helping us create a safe, comfortable place where people can enjoy a good meal, find connection, and know they belong💛

Thank you to our friends at Beloit Garden for the beautiful variety of fresh vegetables donated this season! They will be a wonderful addition to our Free Market this weekend🥔🥦🍆

A little vintage recipe inspiration from the Free Market❤️

Dates made their way to us this week, and they’re perfect for bringing back a classic - Oatmeal Date Bars! A volunteer, Barb, did a great job on mixing up this tasty treat ⭐️

This old-school (~1986!) recipe turns simple ingredients like dates, oats, brown sugar and butter into something pretty wonderful. It’s also a great reminder that the food you find at Food at First can become so much more once it gets home.

Classic Oatmeal Date Bars

Filling

2 cups pitted, chopped dates (about 10 oz.)
1 1/2 cups unsweetened applesauce
1 Tbsp. cornstarch

Crust & Topping

1 3/4 cups all-purpose flour
1 1/2 cups quick-cooking oats
1 cup firmly packed light brown sugar
1 tsp. baking powder
1 tsp. cinnamon
1 tsp. salt
1 cup unsalted butter, chilled and cut into small pieces
1 egg

Directions:
Combine dates and applesauce in a saucepan. Cover and simmer for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally and mashing the dates with a fork. Remove from heat, stir in cornstarch and set aside.

Heat oven to 350°F. Mix flour, oats, brown sugar, baking powder, cinnamon and salt. Cut in butter until the mixture is crumbly.

Divide the mixture in half. Stir the egg into one half, then press into an ungreased 12 x 8-inch pan. Spread the date filling over the crust. Crumble the remaining oat mixture over the top and lightly press down.

Bake 45-50 minutes, or until golden brown. Cool completely before cutting🤗

We are grateful to Cornerstone Church of Ames' Held/ Reger Connection Group for serving their neighbors through Food At First this week! Such an energetic group- thank you for showing up, caring for one another, and putting love into action💛

Do you want a easy and fun place to serve with your team? Check out foodatfirst.com/get-involved or contact Lincoln at [email protected]!

You don’t need a big budget to make a real difference🥳

Did you know last year, Food at First rescued about 800,000 pounds of safe, quality food from the Ames processing plant? That’s 400 tons of good food put to use instead of sent to the landfill (saving the City of Ames about $38,000 in disposal costs!)

A small monthly donation helps us take the work to the next level while providing nutritious meals and groceries to our neighbors. Even $10 or $20 a month adds up, and setting up a sustaining gift through our online portal takes less than a minute.

Give a little. Help a lot. Make it monthly💛 Go to: https://givebutter.com/capital-campaign-y8zotc

We were glad to attend United Way of Central Iowa’s update on the Central Iowa Food Security Plan and hear how organizations across our region are working together to address food insecurity💪
It was especially great to see our friend Patty Sneddon from Urbandale Food Pantry on the panel, sharing her experience and perspective from the front lines of this work. Collaboration like this makes all of us stronger!

Lincoln and James had a great time this week ClubFest, hosted at Iowa State University Memorial Union! What a great opportunity to talk to group leaders, students, and staff about how to get involved in serving families throughout in our region. Thank you to everyone who stopped by💪

⭐If you missed it and want to know more-> https://foodatfirst.com/get-involved/

⭐If you (or your group!) have questions or want to jump in, email Lincoln TODAY-> [email protected]

⭐⭐⭐

Ames Noon Kiwanis in the kitchen! 💚

A big THANK YOU to the Ames Noon Kiwanis for spending time in the Food at First kitchen, preparing and serving a meal for our guests!

There’s a lot that goes into serving fresh meals every day, and we simply couldn’t do it without groups willing to roll up their sleeves and jump in.

Thanks, Kiwanis, for serving right alongside us!

No Free Market at Food at First on Labor Day - Monday, Sept 7th!

Market will be Tuesday, Sept 8th

***MEALTIME STAYS THE SAME***

A big THANK YOU to this crew from Iowa State Kappa Kappa Gamma for spending some time with us at Food at First💚

We rely on volunteers every day to keep food moving and our neighbors fed, and we’re always grateful when ISU students jump in and serve alongside us.

Thanks, KKG, for showing up and getting to work💪