More than 1,500 residents and 120 volunteers picked 7 acres of sweet corn donated by an anonymous farmer at Dows Farm, Cedar Rapids, from July 26 to Aug. 8. The farmer had expressed concern about the amount of hunger he was seeing in his community after it was hit with both Covid and the derecho in 2020 and wanted to do something about it.
Multiple partners volunteered their networks, equipment and expertise to make the harvest successful. These included:
- North-Linn FFA
- Feed Iowa First
- Olivet Mission
- United We March Forward
- Linn County Farm Bureau
- New Pioneer Food Cooperative
- Linn County Planning and Development
Dows Farm is home to a future housing development centered on an organic farm that will include the original farmstead area plus 35 acres.
