Food Bank Finder
Find food near you, or share your garden harvest with neighbors.
Find your food bank
Every Iowa county is served by a regional food bank. Choose your county to see yours and its pantry finder.
Altoona food pantries
Close to home in eastern Polk County. Hours change, so please call before you go.
Caring Hands Outreach Center · Food pantry
602 3rd Street SW, Altoona · Map
515-967-4533 · caringhandsiowa.org
Hours: Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday 11 a.m.–3:30 p.m.; Tuesday 11 a.m.–4:30 p.m. The last appointment is 30 minutes before closing. Call to make an appointment. Families can visit once a month.
Altoona Public Library · Community fridge
700 8th Street SW, Altoona · Map
"Take what you need, leave what you can," during library hours. Call the library to check that it's stocked.
DMARC Food Pantry Network · All of Polk County
Pantries across the Des Moines area, plus a mobile pantry and home food delivery for people who can't get to a pantry.
Last checked November 2026. Know an Altoona pantry we missed? Email hello@iowacannabisaction.org.
Grow a row: share your harvest
Our Victory Gardeners grow food for their neighbors. Fresh produce is one of the things pantries need most.
- Call first. Ask your local pantry what produce they can take and when to drop it off.
- Find pantries that take fresh food at AmpleHarvest.org, or ask your food bank.
- Pick it fresh. Harvest the morning you drop off, brush off the dirt, and leave out anything bruised or spoiled. See the rules below.
- Log it. Volunteers can record harvests in the volunteer portal. They count toward our Victory Garden awards.
Rules for donating fresh food
Pantries serve children, older Iowans, and people who are sick, so food safety comes first. Every pantry has its own rules. When they differ from ours, follow the pantry's.
Before you bring it
- Call the pantry first. Ask what they can take, how much, and when.
- Bring only what they can hand out in a few days. Many pantries have little cold storage.
- Deliver it in person during open hours. Never leave food at the door.
In the garden
- Wash your hands with soap for 20 seconds before you pick or handle food.
- Don't pick or pack food when you're sick.
- Keep pets and animals out of the garden.
- Don't use fresh (uncomposted) manure on food crops.
- Use only garden products labeled for food crops, and follow the label's waiting time before harvest.
What to bring
- Ripe, whole produce in good shape: no mold, rot, deep bruises, or insect damage.
- Whole only. Don't cut, peel, or slice anything.
- Skip giant zucchini, and ask before bringing hot peppers or unusual crops.
- Fresh produce only. No home-canned, home-baked, or home-cooked food.
- Food only. Never cannabis, hemp, or anything made from them.
Packing and drop-off
- Pick it the morning you deliver, or the day before. Keep it cool and out of the sun.
- Brush off dirt. If you rinse, use clean drinking water and let it dry. Don't soak it.
- Pack it in clean, food-safe bags, boxes, or bins, never containers that held chemicals or trash.
- Label each box with what's inside and the date you picked it.
The federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Food Donation Act generally protects people who donate food in good faith to nonprofit organizations. This is general information, not legal advice.
All Iowa food banks
Food Bank of Iowa · Des Moines
55 counties: Adair, Adams, Appanoose, Audubon, Boone, Buena Vista, Calhoun, Carroll, Cerro Gordo, Clarke, Clay, Dallas, Davis, Decatur, Des Moines, Dickinson, Emmet, Franklin, Greene, Guthrie, Hamilton, Hancock, Hardin, Henry, Humboldt, Jasper, Jefferson, Keokuk, Kossuth, Lee, Louisa, Lucas, Madison, Mahaska, Marion, Marshall, Monroe, O'Brien, Osceola, Palo Alto, Pocahontas, Polk, Ringgold, Sac, Story, Taylor, Union, Van Buren, Wapello, Warren, Wayne, Webster, Winnebago, Worth, Wright
Northeast Iowa Food Bank · Waterloo
16 counties: Allamakee, Black Hawk, Bremer, Buchanan, Butler, Chickasaw, Clayton, Delaware, Fayette, Floyd, Grundy, Howard, Mitchell, Poweshiek, Tama, Winneshiek
HACAP Food Reservoir · Cedar Rapids area
7 counties: Benton, Cedar, Iowa, Johnson, Jones, Linn, Washington
River Bend Food Bank · Davenport
5 counties: Clinton, Dubuque, Jackson, Muscatine, Scott
Dubuque County: St. Stephen's branch, Dubuque, 563-557-7474
Food Bank of Siouxland · Sioux City
8 counties: Cherokee, Crawford, Ida, Lyon, Monona, Plymouth, Sioux, Woodbury
Food Bank for the Heartland · Omaha, Nebraska
8 counties: Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, Shelby
Service areas are from the Iowa Department of Health and Human Services food bank map. Pantry hours and locations change, so please call before you go. Iowa Cannabis Action Network is not part of these food banks; we share this to help neighbors find them.