Fewer than 10 people had drifted through the gymnasium at Ames City Hall for the Skip-A-Meal Day on Thursday, despite the event being advertised on the radio and in some publications.

Skip-A-Meal Day is a day people are encouraged to skip lunch for the purpose of putting themselves in the place of people who do not get regular meals, and instead, donate the money they might have spent on lunch to organizations that help the people in need.

Jami Larson, 2nd Ward councilman, attended to show support for the event. He said he did not know why attendance was low and that it also has been low in past years as well.

“Somehow we need to get more interest in helping those people who need help,” Larson said.

He said the United Way is present in town and people may give to them instead of coming to the event.

“[Attendance] just kind of flows in and out,” said Vanessa Baker-Latimer, housing coordinator for the city of Ames who helped put on the event.

However, the event was not just stationed in the gym at City Hall. There were five other sites, located at Lowe’s, 120 Airport Road, Cub Foods, 3121 Grand Ave., Kmart, 1405 Buckeye Ave., and both Hy-Vees, 3800 Lincoln Way and 640 Lincoln Way.

At City Hall, seven tables were set up with representatives and volunteers from organizations Youth and Shelter Services Inc., ACCESS, Good Neighbor Emergency Assistance, Emergency Residence Project, Bethesda Community Food Pantry, Mid-Iowa Community Action and the Help Center. The organizations sought donations of food, money, clothing, household supplies or even time.

“[We are here to] bring awareness to homeless and hunger issues, [and] let the people in Story County know that there are homeless people within the county that need help,” said Carrie Dunnwald, program coordinator for Youth and Shelter Services.

The third annual event at 515 Clark Ave. ran from 11:30 a.m. to 1:30 p.m. and featured organizations accepting donations for those in need. A money machine was used to hold donations and a piano player performed live music.

“As prosperous as Ames is, we have a great community, but we also have a number of people in town that do struggle financially to have regular meals and shelter,” Larson said. “This is a good opportunity for people to help other people who need help.”