A dozen tornados slashed through Iowa recently, leaving behind extensive property damage in their wake. Marshalltown, a community of about 25,000 residents, suffered catastrophic damage to its downtown area.
Iowa Citizens for Community Improvement (CCI) hosts its annual convention tomorrow and expects nearly 1,000 people from across the state to share concerns facing family farms. CCI was organized in 1975 when a handful of clergy began working on housing, crime and safety, and other urban concerns. When the 1980s Farm Crisis hit, they expanded the work throughout rural Iowa to support farmers by helping them obtain nearly $37 million in desperately needed credit. The Presbyterian Hunger Program (PHP) supported that work financially for a number of years.
When the Waterloo School District cut music programs a few years ago, members and leadership at Unity Presbyterian Church saw an opportunity to partner with Kittrell Elementary School to provide music education opportunities.
As wagons of corn—not to mention truckloads of gravel and dirt—circle the United Church of Crawsfordsville, Iowa, surely the harvest is nearing. Or at least the church’s eagerly-awaited harvest supper and auction is.