On Friday afternoon, four people who donated to this month’s fundraiser for the Coralville Community Food Pantry (CCFP) will have a chance to go letter-for-letter with two star players from the University of Iowa women’s basketball team in a game of H-O-R-S-E. The game will take place at a special event marking the end of this year’s Team Up Against Hunger campaign to support the pantry.
Caitlin Clark headlined fundraisers for CCFP during her sophomore and junior years, but couldn’t extend that streak into a three-peat this year.
“She’s had a lot going on since spring, as you might imagine,” CCFP Executive Director John Boller told Little Village.
This year, Hawkeye standouts Sydney Affolter and Taylor McCabe, along with their new teammate Lucy Olsen, who transferred to Iowa from Villanova in April, joined the pantry for the fundraiser. On Friday, there will be a meet-and-greet at the pantry with Affolter and McCabe, where fans will be able to get autographs and selfies with them in exchange for either a $20 donation to CFFP and/or a donation of three or more health items — such as menstrual products, diapers, shampoo, deodorant and toothpaste — for the pantry’s shelves.
“Unfortunately, Lucy won’t be able to join us on Friday,” Boller said. “She did come by and signed a couple of things for us, and we’ll have a drawing for them next week.”
One of the items in that drawing, open to anyone who donates $20 or more to CFFP, will be a Nike basketball signed by Affolter, McCabe and Olsen.
As the 90-minute event draws to a close on Friday afternoon, four people who were randomly selected from everyone who donated $20 to Team Up Against Hunger before 11:59 p.m. on July 29 will play Affolter and McCabe in a game of H-O-R-S-E. The meet-and-greet at CFFP (804 13th Avenue in Coralville) begins at 3 p.m.
This year’s goal was $20,000, with donations up to $12,500 being matched by Hills Bank.
“Earlier this week we were very close to reaching our $20,000 goal, so I’m pretty confident that we’ve hit it,” Boller said. “And we still have a few more days to potentially surpass it.”
LIke other food banks across Iowa, CCFP has an increase in demand for its services, as food insecurity remains a major problem in the state.
“I’ve been telling people that there’s no such thing as a slow day at the food pantry anymore,” Boller said. “The need that we’re seeing in the community is continuing to explode, and the number of families turning to us for support just continues to climb.”
In Fiscal Year 2022, CFPP provided 10,191 “assists” (providing food to a person either at the pantry or through its home delivery program). In the fiscal year that ended on June 30, that number had grown by 80 percent to 18,385 assists.
This year CFFP is “on pace to distribute more than 1 million pounds of food,” according to Boller. Last year, it distributed 833,548 pounds.
“We’re scrambling to make sure we have enough food for the folks who are turning to us for help,” Boller said. “And of course, we’re also just making sure that we have the bandwidth and capacity to meet that need, whether its staffing, volunteers or the food inventory to match that increased need.”
The food pantry building will be open during the meet-and-greet to allow people a chance to look around the facility. CFFP moved into its current building in January 2023, after five years in Coralville’s former post office building. The new building, built on land donated to CCFP by the Coralville United Methodist Church, is 5,000 square feet, twice the size of its former home.
Boller said that giving people the opportunity to look around is one of the things he’s looking forward to on FRiday.
“It’s nice that everyone can see what they’re supporting.”
