Members of the South Central Iowa Federation of Labor, AFL-CIO and United Way of Central Iowa recently partnered with the United Union of Roofers Local Union 142 to help provide emergency repairs to the roof at the Des Moines Area Religious Council Food Pantry Network warehouse in Des Moines. The crew started repairs on June 27 and finished the following afternoon, helping secure a facility that contains hundreds of thousands of pounds of food for area food pantries. The nonprofit is now purchasing an additional 50,000 pounds of food a month compared to last year and has experienced five of its six busiest months on record in 2024, according to a news release. The DMARC Food Pantry Network has provided food at no cost to over 65,000 people throughout its network of 14 food pantries, multiple mobile food pantry sites and food delivery service in 2023.