DAVENPORT, Iowa — A group of local restaurants is offering up a portion of their sales to support a local food pantry that focuses on providing Hispanic cooking ingredients to the Hispanic population of the Quad Cities. The project is in partnership with St. Anthony’s food pantry in downtown Davenport.
The church provides a food pantry every weekday, but only runs the Hispanic ingredient-specific food pantry once a month. John Cooper is the church’s pastoral associate.
“We had heard that Hispanic food ingredients are hard to come by at the other food pantries in the community. And people of color are much more likely to be food insecure. So, one of the things that we're trying to do is to get food out to those populations,” Cooper said.
The efforts to provide access started during the heart of the pandemic. Cooper and his team quickly realized it was no cheap task. They’ve gone as far as Chicago to get masa flour, chilies and other ingredients in bulk for cheap.
“We got a grant through Riverbend Foodbank last year to actually specifically purchase Hispanic ingredients, but that grant has run out. And right now, we have been fundraising,” Cooper said.
With Cinco de Mayo being one of the busiest days for Mexican restaurants, several local hotspots have decided to step up and help provide for the pantry.
“We're grateful that during a busy time of the year and that sort of thing, these restaurants will be thinking of those who don't have, and thinking of those of us that are trying to make food available to them,” Cooper said.
Azteca on North Brady Street in Davenport is donating $1 of every margarita purchased May 5 through May 8 to the food pantry. They’re also encouraging diners to round their bill up to the nearest dollar as a donation.
Gloria Mancilla is a food pantry volunteer coordinator. She loves to see the community come together for a good cause.
“It makes me very proud that we're stepping up, and that we're working together in the Quad Cities, to help each other, you know, to not leave any community behind,” Mancilla said.
Other restaurants have also gotten on board. Los Portales on East Kimberly will also be donating one dollar from every margarita sale on Thursday. In addition, Los Primos Mexican Grill on East Locust Street and Ganzos Restaurant and Cantina on North Marquette Street will be making financial donations.
This effort is just the first initiative in a string of events happening throughout the summer to support the Hispanic community of the Quad Cities.