The City of Kalona has reaffirmed its partnership with a Washington County non-profit aimed at providing food and supplies to children in need.

The discussion came about during the latest Kalona City Council meeting on Monday. Feed the Kids is a non-profit organization that assists kids within the Mid-Prairie Community School District who might experience food insecurity. This includes during breaks in which students are out of school, such as Thanksgiving, winter break, or spring break. The organization also provides backpack supplies, shoes, and other necessities for the beginning of the school year.

The City of Kalona partners with Feed the Kids to provide space for distribution and areas where the organization can sort, bag, and bring in bulk food. A recent need has required use of the SouthTown shed space for refrigerator and freezer space. Kalona City Administrator Ryan Schlabaugh says it was necessary to make sure the council was still on-board with the partnership and willing to give their blessing on the organization using that space.

Schlabaugh says the agenda item didn’t necessarily warrant a motion, but rather a notice to the council, “More of a heads-up, this is kind of where we’re heading, where the use of the space is a little bit more than what it was originally proposed, but that’s a good thing. So as they expand and do some other things, just the need for more dedicated space was there.”

Schlabaugh says that the partnership has been going on for about a year. He says the city will continue to work with the organization on grants and acquiring the things they need to continue helping the community. Feed the Kids estimates there are roughly 1,050 kids facing food insecurity in Washington County.