Beneath the main floor of the First Christian Church in Ames, dozens of people mill around in anticipation. Some sit at the numerous tables, sipping hot coffee. Soon, a line forms as more people come in and wait for their number to be called. As the line slowly shuffles forward, people grab grocery sacks and start to fill them with cans of soup, meat, produce and fresh pastries.

This is Food at First, a non-profit organization that has been feeding the Ames community for over 13 years.

Dale Vander Schaaf started the program and has seen it grow from one meal a week to the seven that it currently serves. He started giving out meals for Lent at the First United Methodist Church and found it to be such a positive impact upon the community that he never stopped.

Now, Food at First serves anyone who needs some groceries, is looking for a meal, or just wants to grab a cup of coffee and chat.

It is open for food distribution from 4:45 p.m. to 5:30 p.m. every Monday and Thursday and 10:00 a.m. to 10:30 a.m. every Saturday morning. Meals are served seven days a week, Sunday through Friday at 5:45 p.m. and Saturdays at 11:30 a.m.

According to Vander Schaaf, Food at First provides food to between 800 and a thousand people on an average week.

On Thanksgiving Day, Food at First serves a traditional Thanksgiving meal with a turkey, potatoes and cranberry sauce to at least 400 people. Instead of staying at home or celebrating the holiday with their family, volunteers from across Ames will be coming to serve those who wouldn’t get a Thanksgiving meal otherwise. 

Food at First’s program is fairly unique in that it has its own “market.” Excess and donated food from businesses such as Sam’s Club, Walmart, Aldi, Hy-Vee and ISU Dining make up the majority of the food there. Even Chipotle and Panera donate food weekly to the Food at First pantry.

Anyone can come in and get some food for themselves or other people, the only restrictions being limits on how much they can take. 

“I am amazed at the food that we get from say, some of the grocery stores because some people say that they sometimes get better stuff than they would going to the grocery store…or that they could never afford to buy at a grocery store,” said Carol Cornelius, a daily volunteer who has been working at Food at First for over six years.

The market has proven to be popular with the community, bringing in on average 100 shoppers per day when the market is open. 

“Right now, in total, my guesstimate…is that on average, they are picking up food for 300 to 350 people,” said Vander Schaaf.

On the days where food is served, cooks browse the racks and find their ingredients for the next meal.

“There’s no set menu…it’s whatever is available” said Vander Schaaf. “People don’t believe us but we’ve even done crab legs and steak. It’s not a soup kitchen here, not at all.”

Since almost all the food is donated by local grocery stores and restaurants, Food at First only has to pay an average of $65 per month to buy the odds and ends when they need something to complete a meal. This saves a lot of money for the organization, which has a full-time staff member and a total operating cost of $5,000 per month.

In order to provide the amount of food and meals to people at such a high capacity, Food at First relies on volunteers from all walks of life.

On average, at least 1,000 people volunteer at Food at First in a year, said Vander Schaaf.

Volunteers typically help with preparing meals, cleanup and managing the market.

“It’s really fun” said 24-year-old Abby Lee, a daily volunteer. “It’s not like you will never have nothing to do here- there is always something to do.”

Food at First has always had plenty of volunteers to function, many of whom are Iowa State students. 

“I’d say that during the school year 15 to 20 percent of our volunteers are [Iowa State] students or staff,” Vander Schaaf said.  

Iowa State organizations are also big contributors, with the Dairy Science Club, Sustainable Agriculture Student Association and a handful of sororities and fraternities all helping out frequently at Food at First. Through the Iowa State students, faculty and ISU Dining, the campus has made a direct impact on the community around it.

“It’s an amazing number of people, it really is. This is one place where the university, and the town and everybody pitches in” said Vander Schaaf.