Mission Idea: Pet Food Pantry (Fort Madison, IA)

Roxy's Pantry

Earlier this year, First Christian Church of Fort Madison, IA began Roxy's Pantry a pet food pantry with a goal to keep more cats and dogs out of pet shelters. Pastor Leslie Dalstra shares how the congregation identified this opportunity and how they work with partners to make it a reality.

It all begins with recognizing a need in the community and a vision from God for how to respond to that need. Missional ministry is about matching needs and assets both within a congregation and the community it is nestled in. In Fort Madison, Iowa we have an influx of cats and dogs that need homes and families that struggle to make ends meet. We also have loads of people that have resources and the desire to help keep pets in low-income households. This is where the vision of Roxy’s Pantry came from. Our local High School’s mascot is a bloodhound named Roxy. We were intentional about the name to reflect our care for the entire community. We interviewed Kylie Schafferkoetter, one of the founding members of the pet food pantry in the greater St. Louis and East St. Louis to learn about the ins and outs of running a pet food pantry.

We then sought out local support in our congregation and approval from our board to do this outreach ministry. We are housed in our church building and have gotten the word out by collaborating with local congregations, especially St. John’s UCC which provides hot meals the full last week of each month. They do this by inviting local congregations to sponsor a night 6 times a year. 

We had a pet parade of parks in our historic district to launch our pet food pantry and are working in conjunction with our local pet shelter, P.A.W. We have donations and support from our congregation as well as from the wider community. Our hope is to offer a high school senior an internship to help to run the pantry and to give them the opportunity to learn more about working in the nonprofit world.