Lohrville facing loss of food pantry as Catholic church to close doors

The closure of St. Joseph Church in Lohrville may mean the loss of another community institution.
Ruth Wiskus told Lohrville City Council members April 11 she hasn’t yet found a new site for the food pantry, which has operated out of the church and under its nonprofit license since 2014.
“With the church closing, there’s no one to take it over, or space,” Wiskus told The Graphic-Advocate April 12. “To be a member for the Food Bank of Iowa, which is where we get most of the food, they have to have a 501(c)(3).”
Only a few other organizations in Lohrville have that designation – the other church in town declined a request to take over running the pantry, and city officials didn’t seem inclined to pick it up, either, when Wiskus asked during the council meeting last week.
“If it was just a matter of being a fiscal sponsor, it would be one thing,” Mayor Donny Hobbs said. 
Read more in the April 19 edition.