Hy-Vee serving free kids meals, offering donation bundles to customers

CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa (KCRG) - All Hy-Vee locations are initiating additional food assistance programs to help families.

Nearly 267,000 people in Iowa who rely on SNAP benefits will not receive funds for November while the government is shut down.

For the first week of November, all locations with hot food service will give free meals to kids ages 12 and under from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m.

The meals will be available to everyone else for $3 for dine in or carry out.

Hy-Vee meals menu

• Monday, November 3: Baked potato with pulled pork
• Tuesday, November 4: Spaghetti with meat sauce, salad and garlic bread
• Wednesday, November 5: Chicken and noodles with mashed potatoes
• Thursday, November 6: Chili and a cinnamon roll
• Friday, November 7: Sesame or orange chicken rice bowl
  • In locations without HyChi, the meal with be two chicken tenders with mashed potatoes and corn

Starting Friday, stores will have food bank donation bundles that customers can purchase for $5 or $10. The bags will include items such as canned meats and vegetables, pasta sauce and cereal. Store will deliver the bags to their local food pantry.

The efforts are in addition to a recent $100,000 donation to its partner Feeding America food banks throughout the Midwest, including the Food Bank of Iowa.

It has also donated $25,000 to DoorDash’s initiative to waive delivery fees for SNAP recipients.