Willow Creek Falls, Iowa. Neighbors since 2009
No one in Willow Creek Falls should go hungry, fall behind at school or spend a week without a friendly face at the door.
We run a walk in food pantry, free after school tutoring, eighty garden plots and a weekly visit for neighbors who live alone. All of it is staffed by people who live on these streets.
- No paperwork at the pantry door
- Every program free to use
- Run by volunteers who live here
Last year, in four numbers.
These figures are placeholders. Swap in your own before you launch.
12,400
meals handed out last year
318
households served every month
1,960
hours of free tutoring
84
garden plots planted and picked
What we run
Four programs, one block of Main Street.
Riverbend Food Pantry
A full week of groceries, chosen off the shelf like a small store, for any household that walks in.
Who it is for, and how to use it
After School Tutoring
Homework help and reading practice in a quiet room, four afternoons a week, at no cost to families.
Who it is for, and how to use it
Riverbend Community Garden
Eighty raised beds on the old lot at Mill and Water, free to any neighbor who wants to grow food.
Who it is for, and how to use it
Senior Friendly Visits
A trained volunteer at the door once a week, for an hour, for neighbors who live alone.
Who it is for, and how to use itThree ways in
You do not need a spare Saturday to be useful.
Give
Every dollar stays in Willow Creek Falls. Give once, or set up a monthly amount you will not miss.
Donate nowVolunteer
One hour a week is enough to change somebody's month. Six roles are open right now, and we train you for all of them.
See the rolesPartner
Businesses host collection barrels, sponsor a season or send a team for a morning. We handle the rest.
Partner with us
Why it works
“We started with one folding table and a dozen boxes in a church basement. What kept it going was not the money. It was that the same eleven people came back every Tuesday.”
Marisol V., Executive Director
Seventeen years later the table is a full pantry, the basement is a building on Main Street, and the volunteers are your neighbors, your kid’s bus driver and the woman who runs the hardware store. Nothing here is complicated. It is just people who keep showing up.
Read our storyFrom the neighborhood
What people tell us.
These notes are placeholders. Replace them with real quotes from the people you serve, or with your own Google reviews.
“I came in for a box the month after my hours got cut and nobody asked me a single hard question. Two years later I am the one handing out the boxes on Thursdays.”
“My son went from dreading reading to finishing a chapter book over spring break. The same tutor sat with him every Tuesday for a year and that is the whole reason.”
“Wednesday at eleven is my hour. We do the crossword, she carries the recycling out and I have somebody to tell about my week. It matters more than I can say.”
On the calendar
Upcoming ways to help.
Nothing to sign up for in advance. Turn up, say hello at the desk and somebody will put you to work. Dates below are placeholders, put your real ones here.
First Saturday, monthly
8:00 AM to 11:00 AM
Pantry restock morning
Unload the truck, break down pallets and fill the shelves before the doors open. Ten volunteers needed.
Second Saturday, April to June
9:00 AM to 1:00 PM
Garden build day
Frame beds, haul soil and set up the drip lines for the new season. Tools and lunch provided.
Third Thursday, monthly
6:30 PM to 8:00 PM
Tutor orientation
The training session every new tutor starts with. Come see the room before you decide.
Late autumn, one week
All week, drop off any time
Coats and cans drive
Our biggest collection of the year. Barrels go out at every partner business in town.
Whether you need a hand or want to lend one, start here.
Ask about the pantry, sign up to tutor, claim a garden plot or just tell us what you are good at. Somebody answers every message within one business day.