A volunteer carries several bags to a van Saturday morning. The Marshalltown Church of the Nazarene helped give out 5,000 pounds of food and supplies.

The Marshalltown Church of the Nazarene helped give out 5,000 pounds of food and supplies Saturday.

Organizations from Des Moines shipped the food and supplies to help Marshalltown residents who lost a portion of their pantry in the Aug. 10 derecho. The derecho left a lot of Marshalltown residents with food insecurity because of the loss of power. Many were without electricity for a week and half.

“We definitely couldn’t do it without the church folks today,” John Witmer, Marshalltown Church of the Nazarene lead pastor said. “We didn’t know what to expect and we’re still thankful that other churches and agencies have been jumping in.”

Church members helpoed with the drive-through food box giveaway. Recipients were lined up in cars prior to 10 a.m.

“We had a good group here before 10 a.m.,” Witmer said.

The church was one of many organizations trying to supply food to people who were impacted by the derecho.

On Friday, Emergency Food Box and Iowa Food Bank helped distribute boxes of food to 350 families. That was the second time the two organizations distributed boxes of food.

Despite a dreary overcast sky, volunteers were in good spirits while handing out paper bags full of food to incoming cars.

The church received the supplies on Wednesday and from there volunteers sorted through and got the food ready to hand out to people.

“We were blessed with that partnership with some agencies in Des Moines and so we want to be a blessing to the community,” Witmer said.

—–

Contact Thomas Nelson at 641-753-6611 or tnelson@timesrepublican.com