DES MOINES, Iowa — A new facility to help fight hunger has officially re-opened in Urbandale. The Urbandale Food Pantry opened its doors Tuesday, just down the street from the old one along Douglas Avenue.

The space is more than double the size of the old facility and enhances its accessibility, with larger shopping areas, a waiting room, and a dedicated food recovery space that provides food close to its expiration date to help minimize food waste.

“In 2024 the Urbandale Food Pantry rescued over 670,000 pounds of food that would have gone in the trash. So, this food is in conjunction with partners throughout the community so our volunteers go and pick up food and bring it back here and we process it. So, it’s food that would have gone in the trash but maybe has a today shelf-life on it, and so we make that available to individuals on a daily basis. So, as the need for access to food continues to rise the anytime room has kind of taken on a mind of its own and we’re starting to see a lot of individuals utilize that space,” said Patty Sneddon-Kisting, Executive Director of the Urbandale Food Pantry.

Leaders with the pantry say the new space is needed as the pantry continues to break records of people needing food assistance.

“In February of 2022, we served 847 families. In February of 2024, we served more than 1,900 families. Now, we are actively serving more than 2,200 families right now and we were breaking records of families utilizing the service for the first time ever. So,160 to 200 families every single month, who have never received a service before, we’re welcoming them into the pantry,” said Sneddon-Kisting.

Sneddon-Kisting said within the first four hours of the pantry being open Tuesday they served more than 130 families.

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