A new food pantry will soon start serving local veterans in need. This weekend, The Quad City Veterans Outreach Center will open in Davenport.
The center is a self-funded effort of Quad Cities-area businesswoman Lola VanDeWalle. She wanted to honor the memory of her father, who served in World War Two, and to close gaps in services for area veterans needing food.
"I think we have a lot of great veteran services, I just think there are some areas of need that we could help fill. That would help those that are running into difficult times, or, as the holidays come and the weather gets bad, need a little more help."
VanDeWalle says she's already received dozens of calls about the food pantry and has cases of donated food. She expects the need for them will be great.
"I went to a couple of Legion meetings and listened to everything they said about our homeless veterans in the Quad Cities, and about veterans that just fall through the cracks that aren't eligible for a lot of programs, but are still in need of food and personal items."
The Outreach Center will open on Saturday with a ribbon-cutting ceremony led by area World War II veterans. The center will offer food giveaways every four weeks, emergency food provisions, and monthly services like haircuts and chiropractic care.
VanDeWalle expects to serve 50 to 100 veterans on opening day. The new center is located at 250 West 35th Street, in Davenport.
