Love Lunches is a summer lunch program for children and their families that is solely supported by church donations and is not affiliated with the school district. Seven community churches, including Ankeny First, help with this program by preparing and serving the meal for 1-3 weeks throughout the summer. This is where we need you! Sign up to donate food, or to volunteer to prepare and serve the meal HERE. Ankeny First is responsible to prepare the meal and serve the meal on June 2, 20, 21, 22, and 23 so please prioritize those dates. We prepare the meal in the Uptown Family Center, and we serve the meal at Sunset Park (1320 SW 3rd Street). Note: we will also need to fill up volunteer responsibilities on August 1, 2, 3, and 4. The sign-up genius has dates for the entire summer. If the Ankeny First specific dates do not work in your schedule, please feel free to help on any day that does.

Questions can be directed to Holly Szcodronski at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

What a great way to respond to God’s love in our community! Every pint saves or sustains another life! Our next blood drive will be on Tuesday, May 24, 2022 at our Uptown location, 1:00-6:00pm. This drive will be in honor of Bonnie Klein. Register at www.lifeservebloodcenter.org. Questions? Contact Judy Ruble, 515.729.9482.

Help Needed Uptown to Spruce Up the Landscaping!

The trustees are looking for some volunteers to assist with a facelift on the east side of the Uptown building. We will be pulling out the shrubs/bushes and old landscaping rock and planting new shrubs and installing new rock to give the east side a fresh look! We are seeking volunteers on May 14 & 21. We are looking to work from 8:00am-12:00pm on both of these Saturdays. We have loader tractors to help move material around and pull the existing shrubs but are looking for assistance with picking up the old rock/landscaping fabric into buckets/wheelbarrows as well as installing new fabric, planting new shrubs, and installing new rock. Each weekend we will only tear out as much as we can put back to a finished stage. We are hoping to get commitments from 15-20 volunteers for each weekend, but all are welcome. If you are available to assist, please RSVP with your email, cell number, and names to Tyler Hogue at 515-577-7887 or This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.. We would like to have a solid commitment and know the number of volunteers available so we plan on how much we want to tackle each weekend. Obviously, this will be labor-intensive, so the more volunteers the better. Please take a minute to consider "Responding" to help in any way you can with this project.

Thanks in advance for your consideration, Ankeny First Trustees

Thank you, to all who have donated, served, or delivered for our Monday Night Community Meal over the past months. None of this would happen without all those who have taken the time to help! There are approximately 150 meals being served each Monday to those in our community who may not otherwise have a hot, home-cooked meal that night. Deliveries are being made to a number of apartment complexes primarily serving our older generations for a total of 100 meals. Interested in helping? Sign up here.

Millions of Ukrainians have fled their war-torn country and all of them are navigating their way to temporary or permanent homes throughout the world. United Methodist Committee on Relief is on the ground helping the refugees on this journey with whatever their needs may be. So this month we are focusing on collecting monetary donations that will help fund UMCOR’s efforts. Please give monetarily by writing "May Mission of the Month" on your check memo or simply give on our website.

Give monetarily by writing “May Mission of the Month” in your check memo, or give online (www.ankenyfirst.org/give.htm).

Volunteers Needed for Meals We Serve to Des Moines Agencies

YMCA Supportive Housing Meal Eight volunteers are needed each 3rd Tuesday of the month to manage a meal for the residents of the YMCA Supportive Housing Campus in Des Moines. The eight volunteers share the duties of meal prep, serving and clean-up. You are needed by 5:45pm and you will be finished up by 7:45pm. If you are brand new to this mission opportunity, there will be people there to assist you and get you going with needed tasks. Sign up here.

Trinity Supper Club June 1 Every first Wednesday of the month, a team of volunteers meets at the Christian Life Center to prepare meals and deliver them to Trinity Las Americas in downtown Des Moines, which go to the community and after-school children. To make that happen, we need you! This next month on June 1 we still need volunteers to provide cookies...the driver and kitchen helpers have already filled up! Please sign up HERE to let God’s light shine through you and bless our Des Moines neighbors and kids!

Central Iowa Shelter & Services Meal Join us as we serve a meal for our neighbors at Central Iowa Homeless Shelter in Des Moines on the 21st of each month. This is a wonderful way to respond to God's love and command to love our neighbors. There are opportunities to help with serving the meal, and driving the food and helpers down to the shelter. Find more information and register here.

Contact This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. if you have any questions.

The church is always in need of skilled labor to help our buildings and grounds remain safe, clean, and maintained. If you have experience (professional or DIY), this is a great opportunity for you to be in service with your church family so that we can focus on the ministry that happens every day at our facilities. The Property Ministry Team is an important, on-going ministry in our church.

Email This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. with your skill set:

Demolition
Concrete/rebar
Masonry/brickwork
Landscaping
Small engine repair/maintenance
Rough carpentry (framing)
Finish carpentry
Siding
Roofing
Installing doors/windows
Tiling/flooring/carpet
Painting
Drywall/mud/tape/finish
Plumbing
HVAC
Electrical
Cleaning