Hackathon prototype. The pantry list is real. The food postings are examples — no store has signed up yet.

Xenia

Greater Des Moines

Good food gets thrown out every night. Families nearby go without.

Xenia connects the two. A store or restaurant posts its extra food in one sentence. Xenia finds the pantry that can safely take it, and neighbors see where to pick it up. Always free.

I need food I have extra food I have time
  1. A store posts it"40 vegetarian meals, refrigerated, need gone by 7pm." That is the whole form.
  2. Xenia finds the pantry that asked for itPantries post what they're short on. Xenia rules out places that can't store the food or aren't open in time, then ranks the rest by need and distance.
  3. Neighbors pick it upThe food shows up below with where and when. No sign-up, no ID, no cost.
402,340Iowans don't know where their next meal will come from. That is 1 in 8.
60,300of them live in Polk County, including 20,430 children.
76 millionmeals a year is the gap between what Iowans need and what they can get.
30–40%of the food supply in the United States is never eaten.

Sources: Feeding America, Map the Meal Gap, as reported by Food Bank of Iowa; USDA.

Find free food

No account. Nobody asks for documents here.

Posted on Xenia right now example postings

Food pantries you can go to this week real places

Hours come from each pantry's own website. Call first to be sure.

More: all DMARC pantries · Food Bank of Iowa finder · or call 211 any time.

Give extra food

For stores, restaurants, caterers and schools. Try it — this is a working demo.

Donating in good faith is protected by the federal Bill Emerson Good Samaritan Act and Iowa Code §672.1.

What happens next

Xenia checks eight pantries and kitchens. You'll see which ones can take your food, which can't and why, and the score behind the top pick.

What pantries need

Most food-rescue tools only let the giver speak. Here pantries ask first, and each donation counts toward the request it answers.

Give time

Food doesn't move itself. Stores, pantries and the city post jobs that need hands. Anyone can take one. Nobody has to work to eat.

Jobs open now example postings