Since the very beginning of our community giving efforts, we've witnessed first-hand how the smallest of gestures can provide big and meaningful support to a family or child in need. With that idea in mind, the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation developed the Little Free Pantry program that works to provide 24/7 access to resources for families facing short-term, emergency situations.

The pantries supplement existing hunger relief efforts for families who do not have the ability to buy food. Since the program began in 2019, the Foundation has installed 10 pantries in 9 different Homegrown Iowa communities across the state. Open the door of one of these pantries and you’ll find easy-to-prepare snacks for kids, personal hygiene products, items for infants, ready-to-eat meals and seasonal items like warm weather clothing, school supplies and much more, all there to help whoever might need them.

These Little Free Pantries have an immediate and far-reaching impact in the communities they are placed in, but none of that would be possible without our exceptional group of Iowa Select Farms employees and families who stock and care for the pantries – fittingly called our Little Free Pantry Captains. Read on to see the stories of each of our captains, and better understand all the hard work they do to positively impact their communities.

“There’s a lot more need and lot more hunger than the average person sees,” said Aaron, an Iowa Select Farms sow farm manager and Riceville Little Free Pantry Captain. “I didn’t think it was going to be that big, but then I realized our food pantry is only open day a week and when it is open, there’s always a line all the way down the block for it. That’s why our little pantries are so important.”

Aaron and his fiancé, Mary, are both sow farm managers for Iowa Select Farms in northeast Iowa and are the Riceville Little Free Pantry Captains. Riceville is the site of the first-ever Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation Little Free Pantry. It is located outside of the community’s library, just blocks from the school where it was installed in 2019. Aaron and Mary have been taking care of it ever since.

“When the company asked Mary and I to be involved, saying yes was a no brainer. We are honored they thought of us,” said Aaron. “We’re thankful to be able to serve the community. Helping out and making a difference like this, I’m just glad to be a part of it.”

“The biggest thing that brightens my day is when I see a kid taking a snack, and it leaves a smile on their face. There are struggles, but if you can help one person have a full belly, it's all worth it,” said Gerhard, a sow farm manager and the Little Free Pantry Captain in Webster City. “It just makes you a better person to be a part of it. We need more good people in the world right now.”

This pantry is one of two installations in Webster City and was the third pantry added to our program. It was installed in June of 2020 in hopes of serving a high traffic area, and Gerhard takes extra care to stock the pantry full of items appropriate for multicultural patrons. When he heard that there were going to be Little Free Pantries in Webster City, he jumped at the chance to get involved.

“Iowa Select Farms has really done a lot for me, and they are so family oriented, so I am more than willing to help out with any opportunity I can. I really wanted to give back to the company and the community of Webster City,” said Gerhard.

For Ron, the Director of Transportation at Iowa Select Farms and his wife, Brooke, volunteering to maintain the Aplington Little Free Pantry has become a family effort. The couple and their four kids work together to care for one of our newest Little Free Pantries in the small town of Aplington.

The pantry was installed in June 2021 right in front of the Aplington-Parkersburg Middle School and features images of farm animals, rural landscapes and unique Aplington area landmarks, all in celebration of the connection between farming and strong communities. It’s fitting then, that when deciding to become Little Free Pantry Captains, a big part of the family’s decision stemmed from their love of Aplington’s tight-knit community.

“We have a such a good community in Aplington and in Parkersburg, so anything we could do to help the community we wanted to do,” said Brooke. “It’s a good feeling to be able to help others out, it’s so worth it.”

“It makes me feel good to be a part of a company that thinks about giving back to the communities we work in. I am so proud to work for Iowa Select Farms,” said T’Lee a member of the health services team. “To see our name on that pantry, knowing we provide for people in need, makes me so proud that we do this and that I get to be a part of it.”

T’Lee has been a member of the team of three outstanding Iowa Select Farms employees who care for the Afton Little Free Pantry since it was installed in 2020. It is located on the town square adjacent to the city park and a splash pad in hopes of attracting the town’s youngest citizens. Julie, Jessica and T’Lee all work together to keep the pantry stocked with emergency resources like snacks, food, diapers and children's care products.

“I have a great group to work with. We do a great job of rotating responsibilities, so no one feels overwhelmed with taking care of it all,” said T’Lee. “We’ve become a little team and it’s a great feeling to know we are all doing this together.”

“I really see a need for this in the community, but some families are embarrassed to talk about their situation or go to the neighborhood center; it’s a pride thing. Now, because of the pantry, you’ll see kids go grab snacks after school, and they don’t have to ask anyone for it. It’s a game changer,” said Courtney, our Little Free Pantry Captain in Lenox.

The Lenox Little Free Pantry is located at the Lenox Iowa Fire Department, directly across the street from a school bus stop and the Lenox Rodeo Grounds. It is stocked and cared for by Courtney’s entire family. As an Iowa Select Farms employee family, they saw the need for a project like this in their community and knew the Deb and Jeff Hansen Foundation could help.

“It all started with our girls coming home from school and telling us there were kids in their classes who didn’t have food. Hearing those stories was the initial push, and it got my husband involved,” explained Courtney.

Our next featured captain, Zach, is one of two Iowa Select employees who maintains the Little Free Pantry outside of Fuller Hall in Webster City. He helped install the pantry there in June of 2020 and has been involved ever since.

“I volunteered to help install both pantries in Webster City, and then I just kind of got wrapped up in it,” he explained. It wasn’t a planned thing, but there really is a need for it in the community, and it’s a small thing I can help with that really benefits others.”

There is a distinct need for the program in the Webster City community, so much so that two pantries were installed in different areas of the town to help meet the demand. Zach has witnessed this need firsthand.

“I don’t think there’s been a single time I’ve put in things in there that have lasted for more than 24 hours,” he said.

However, even though the demand may be high and keeping everything stocked is sometimes challenging, taking care of the pantry is something Zach enjoys doing. He looks forward to the small things like stocking the pantry with school supplies.

“Iowa Select Farms and the Foundation give back in so many ways, but I love the concept of the little free pantries in particular,” said Jessica, a Production Well-Being Specialist for Iowa Select Farms and one of the three Little Free Pantry Captains in Afton.

The Afton installation she cares for was the second addition to the Little Free Pantry program. It is located on the town square adjacent to the city park and a splash pad in hopes of attracting the town’s youngest citizens. Jessica works together with two other Iowa Select Farms employees, Julie and T’Lee, to keep the pantry safe and stocked. When these three ladies work together, they are truly the dream team.

“From a responsibility standpoint, it’s great to be part of the team. It distributes the work and time. Plus, Julie and T’Lee are just great women to work with,” said Jessica. “Everything is better when you work as a team, and that’s the case with Iowa Select too. Here you do things as a team not just as an individual. You’re really working towards a common goal, and everyone pitches in.”

Our next Little Free Pantry Captain spotlight takes us to Ellsworth where Elzette, the health services assistant at Iowa Select Farms, serves her community by caring for the Little Free Pantry.

“It’s my pride and joy. So much so that I have to stack everything in it a certain way, just to make sure it looks nice and inviting and full all the time,” said Elzette.

Elzette’s husband and Director of Sows at Iowa Select Farms, Dan, was instrumental in bringing the project to the Ellsworth community in 2020. The pantry is located just east of Trinity Lutheran Church and has an especially unique design that features pigs, fish and even turkeys. This was the sixth Little Free Pantry installed in one of our Homegrown Iowa communities, and Elzette has been the perfect person to oversee the project.

“It’s all about giving back to the community and showing that I’m proud of who I’m working for,” said Elzette, “We can help people worry a little less about where their next meal is coming from or how they are going to put food on the table for their kids that night. That can be something we take for granted, just opening up our cupboards to find them filled with food. Not everyone has that.”

“Food insecurity is a lot bigger issue than most people think. We often take it for granted that we get to go home and eat a meal each night. The idea of people going hungry seems like something that happens in cities, but there is much more of it than we realize in our small towns. It’s a very serious need within the community,” said Craig, a production well-being specialist for Iowa Select Farms and the captain for the Parkersburg Little Free Pantry.

Craig and his wife Nancy, a finishing manager for Iowa Select Farms, work together to care for the pantry. It is one of the most recent additions to the Little Free Pantry program and was installed in June 2021. After seeing the success of pantries in other Homegrown Iowa communities, Craig and Nancy were eager to get involved.

“When we heard there was one going up in Parkersburg, we jumped at the opportunity to help. There was no doubt in our minds that this was something we wanted to be a part of,” said Craig. “Being from a small town, I know there are families that are hurting. There is a such a need for this type of resource today, it’s just unbelievable.”

“It’s about doing your part to help feed the people who need it. It’s a good addition to the community and what Iowa Select is all about,” said Chris, a sow farm supervisor for Iowa Select Farms. “I think giving back is really important. Showing we are a company that values this means something to people in Webster City.”

Chris works with another Iowa Select Farms employee, Zach, to care for one of two little Free Pantries in Webster City. The pantry he maintains is located on the southwest corner of Fuller Hall, strategically placed to serve children on their way to school. Chris works together with Zach to keep it stocked with emergency resources like snacks, food, diapers and children's care products and families facing short-term, emergency situations.

“I get a lot of waves from people driving or walking by when I am re-stocking it,” said Chris. “I always try to drive by it on my way home to check on it, and I’ve seen kids getting snacks from it on their way home from school. That’s probably the most rewarding part because that type of thing is exactly what it’s there for.”

“I am proud to work for Iowa Select Farms. It goes back to all the things they do for their communities and their employees. They do a lot to help people, and that follows what I believe about how we should treat others,” said Angel manager of the Peterson Sow Farm and the main Little Free Pantry Captain in our Homegrown Iowa community of Clarion.

Sitting on the corner of Fireman’s Park, the Clarion pantry is our newest addition to one of our most unique hunger relief efforts. As the tenth pantry installment, this Little Free Pantry serves those who live in the heart of Wright County and was installed in November of 2021. Angel has helped ensure that it remains stocked and cared for to meet the growing need in the community.

“I see that there is a need in Clarion, especially at the location the pantry is in,” she explained. “When it was installed, we filled it up and by the second day it was completely empty.”

While ensuring the pantry remains stocked may present challenges, especially with the high demand in the Clarion community, Angel finds joy in her role as a pantry captain.

“This is one of the best parts of Iowa Select. It shows in actions not just words that they believe in their communities and that they take care of their communities. That really says something about who we are as a company,” said Julie who works in multiplication at Iowa Select Farms and is one of the Afton Little Free Pantry Captains.

She works alongside two other Iowa Select Farms employees, T’Lee and Jessica, to ensure the pantry is always stocked and taken care of. They keep a shared closet in the Afton office stocked with everything from canned goods and school supplies to socks and children’s care products, so they’re always ready to restock the pantry on a moment’s notice.

Located on the square near city park, the pantry provides 24/7 access to resources for families and children facing short-term, emergency situations. The pantries are designed to supplement existing hunger relief efforts by offering emergency products to those who need them most.

Our final Little Free Pantry Captain spotlight story takes us to Rockwell City where sow supervisor, Dan, and his wife give back to this Homegrown Iowa community by maintaining their Little Free Pantry.

“As a father, I worry about the kids in our community who don’t have access to food in the summer months. As a teacher and a mother, I know my wife feels the same way,” said Dan. “You can really see how kids are impacted when you look at what gets taken from the pantry. It’s the baby supplies, the little hats and gloves, things that you know aren’t going to an adult. It’s so rewarding to realize just how important this is to the kids.”

Installed outside of the Rockwell City Church of Christ, the Rockwell City Little Free Pantry is bright, colorful and kid-friendly; it features images of the children’s play area, agriculture and of course pigs. In addition to offering emergency food resources to families who have limited access to pantries or community shelters, our Little Free Pantries contain children’s necessities not covered by SNAP, WIC or other governmental support programs like bottles, diapers and hygiene products. These products are essential to meet the growing need in the Rockwell City area.