Nevada Food at First and StoryTime Childcare shared how they’re serving vulnerable parts of Story County communities. In reports to the Story County Board of Supervisors on Tuesday morning, they discussed how federal grant funds awarded through Story County were spent.

Food at First: From 2024 to 2025, Nevada Food at First, a nonprofit focused on improving food access, saw an increase of more than 5% to the number of meals it provides for those in need, said Barbara Mittman, community meal coordinator of Food at First. A total of 36,619 meals were served last year.

Mittman said the increase can be attributed to SNAP changes and increasing food and gas prices as well as new meal stops in Collins and Maxwell.

The nonprofit serves meals in all six eastern Story County communities and works with seven school and community food pantries and an assortment of local retail partners through their volunteers.

Through May of this year, Nevada Food at First has served 14,750 meals, ranging from 362 per night in March to 590 in May. It currently has 16 meal stops and several dozen residents with mobility issues being served with door stops

“Please accept our gratitude for positioning us to serve as a conduit that strengthens communities and supports our neighbors,” Mittman said.

StoryTime Childcare: Mandy Lindemoen, interim director of Maxwell’s StoryTime Childcare, shared how a grant from the board has helped their organizations succeed and their plans for child care.

“We have a full and engaging summer plan for our children, with activities that support learning, creativity, and social development while giving families dependable care,” she said.

Pride Month: The board made a declaration that June is Pride Month in Story County, in support of the LGBTQIA+ community. A second declaration was made for the celebration of Juneteenth, with a date set for the fifth annual Ames/Story County Juneteenth celebration on June 13 at Bandshell Park. Public art will be shown at the event with collaborative activities for children.

In other business

• Two bids were received for the CJ Shreck Water Trail access improvements — Hands-On Excavation ($149,555) and Gehrke Ink ($161,565). A staff recommendation on which bid to accept will be given to the board at a later date.
• Four bids were received for construction work at the Deppe Family Conservation Area — Woodruff Construction ($502,300), HPC, LLC ($422,032), Caliber Concrete ($377, 371) and GTG Construction ($375, 654). A staff recommendation on which bid to accept will be given to the board at a later date.