Highlighting Inspiring Women: She helps feed Clayton County

Throughout March, which is Women’s History Month, the North Iowa Times-Clayton County Register will again publish a series of articles highlighting local women. Whether it’s through their careers, hobbies, volunteer efforts or unique personalities, these women have become an inspiration to others.

By Audrey Posten, Times-Register

“The thanks—that’s not why you do this.”

For Clayton County Food Shelf Supervisor Utoni Ruff, it’s about working with fellow community members and assuring the needs of the county’s citizens are met.

“Everybody knows we’re here. Everyone knows they’re welcome here and will be treated with respect here,” she said.

Utoni has been a key figure at the Clayton County Food Shelf in Saint Olaf for over three decades. She was hired as a bookkeeper in 1988, just five years after the organization formed, then became supervisor in 1993.

“A group was formed to talk about the need in March of 1983, then gave out their first food in September of 1983. When they started, they were open one afternoon a week and served two to three families,” she shared. “Before that, the county bought food for anyone who needed it. They gave out these $10 vouchers. Then people started donating to the Department of Human Services Office in Elkader, but that didn’t go on very long. Now, the county has us in their budget.”

The Clayton County Food Shelf has been a nonprofit since 1987. It’s non-ecumenical and maintains its own bank account, post office box, board of directors and more. 

Utoni said the nonprofit status opened the food shelf up to grant opportunities, and writing for them has become an integral part of her job.

“You can see how much Upper Mississippi Gaming Corporation has helped us,” she said, pointing to a wall in her office covered in grant awards.

The funds for non-food items, which cannot be purchased with SNAP or similar benefits, are especially important. Utoni concentrates on buying six items: toilet paper, toothpaste, laundry soap, hand soap, dish soap and shampoo. 

“It doesn’t cover everything, but it helps,” she quipped.

Utoni has little idle time. On Mondays, Tuesdays, Thursdays and Fridays, she picks up donations at the Kwik Stars in the county. The convenience stores can’t donate anything off their roller grills, but supply the food shelf with meat and bakery items.

“I do that before we open, at noon or in the evening,” she said.

The rest of her week consists of ordering and buying food and other products, as well as packing and hauling items for clients.

With styrofoam coolers donated by a local business, Utoni is able to distribute food to homeless people in the area. 

“I have one homeless gentleman who’s living in an old, non-running RV. He was scared to death to let me bring him the food. I had to make sure he believed I wouldn’t call the cops,” she said. “I met another gentleman in the parking lot of a gas station a few weeks back who was living out of his running car.”

She’s even helped individuals find housing or temporary shelter. 

No matter the situation, Utoni wants clients to feel valued. One touching moment came this past Christmas. After a local woman collected food and monetary donations, Utoni distributed them to two families. Neither knew she was coming.

“The first one was dumbfounded, couldn’t even speak,” Utoni recalled. “The next one, she was sobbing. She said, ‘No one has ever done anything like this before.’ It was beyond anything she thought would’ve ever happened in her life.”

Utoni insists it’s not about her, though. She relies on a network of people to help maintain the food shelf. That includes two hired helpers, Albert Erickson and Michele Van Wey. Four gentlemen from a local group home also come every Thursday afternoon. 

“Those guys are the highlight of my week,” she said. “They had to quit in March because of the pandemic, but just started back. We have a blast.”

The same volunteers come year after year to help with the three major holiday giveaways. Countless others give their time and resources.

“I spent years trying to talk people into donating their fresh produce out of their gardens or orchards. As that started to grow, I had to write more grants for more refrigerators,” Utoni said. Then, she started running out of space. “I just have to keep expanding to hold stuff. So, last spring, the First Congregational Church in McGregor offered up a garage, and I found somebody to volunteer to re-wire it so each appliance is on its own line. Down there, I have six, 25-cubic-foot chest freezers and one giant dairy cooler. The Clayton County Dairy Promotion Committee, for a couple years now, has donated all the dairy products.”

Some people contribute to the food shelf on a yearly basis, while others give regularly.

“That peanut butter and jelly,” said Utoni, pointing to two boxes, “those folks are from town and they bring that every week. There are a lot of generous people.”

That generosity has been especially noticeable during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Clayton County Food Shelf has remained open throughout, with safety precautions in place. 

“At noon on March 17, I put a doorbell on the door and that silly caution tape up,” Utoni said. 

Clients usually come up to the door, and she speaks to them through it. They wait in their vehicle while she fills the shopping cart and takes it outside. Once Utoni is back inside, the client empties the contents into their vehicle and returns the cart to the door.

Prior to last March 15, Utoni said the food shelf served 84 families per month. That number spiked to 210 over the summer and now sits at about 174.

“My monetary donations, whether from the churches or individuals or businesses, went through the roof last spring until about the middle of summer. Then it kind of died down, and always picks back up for the holidays,” she said. “I got checks from individuals who’ve never given before. I got checks from normal donors, but three times what they normally give. It was amazing. The community saw what needed to be done and they did it.”

But with the increased need came a new part of the job: deliveries.

“Before this, I rarely, if ever, did deliveries. But when the pandemic hit, what do you do when an agency calls you and tells you Jane Doe and her family are quarantined and need food? You deliver it,” said Utoni. “My rule, I would have an exact time on an exact day I was supposed to be there. They could not come out. I would set their food on their porch or sidewalk, and then they could come get it.”

The extra duties had Utoni averaging 75 hours per week. Luckily, Northeast Iowa Communication Action stepped up, helping with deliveries to one Clayton County community every Wednesday from April 29 to Nov. 25.

“One day it would be Marquette and McGregor, the next day Garnavillo, then Elkader or Strawberry Point. It was the other towns I still had to deliver,” she explained. “This alleviated a lot. But it was a lot of hauling food, loading and unloading and weighing in and weighing out and packing. I love my job, but it was a lot of extra work.”

With demand and donations up and her regular help unable to work at that time, Utoni also received a big boost from Heather Crogan with Shepherd of the Hills. Utoni’s husband, Bob, also put in over 100 volunteer hours, and her daughter, Mackenzy, had 260. 

“That was the middle of March through December. They were all priceless,” stressed Utoni. “The highlight of the pandemic was actually being around my daughter more. Otherwise, if she wouldn’t have been here helping me, I wouldn’t have hardly seen her at all.”

Despite the long hours, Utoni said working during the pandemic was actually one of her favorite times.

“I was helpful and busy,” she remarked.

That’s her favorite part of the job overall.

“It’s wonderful. You’re not just sitting behind a desk. You deal with people every day, and it’s all different people and all different situations,” she shared. “Most are really appreciative.”