Judging for the Merle Hay Neighborhood Association’s 17th annual Holiday Lights contest this winter will take place the weekend of December 17. If you would like to ensure your house is included in judging, please contact April at (515)707-6386. Your home or your neighbor’s home may be considered for a prize even if you don’t contact us. Three homes will be awarded a $25 gift card. Judges will be looking for creativity, originality, holiday spirit, neatness, and theme coordination. We encourage as many people as possible to decorate their homes and thank everyone who makes our neighborhood a little brighter this holiday season!  

MHNA is renewing its efforts to reduce hunger with a winter food-drive for the less fortunate. We understand that too many of our neighbors struggle to put enough food on the table, and we want to help. Our drive will support the Food Bank of Iowa, DMARC Food Pantry, the two Little Free Pantries in our neighborhood, and the Reach Church’s food pantry.

If donating by check, please make it out to MHNA. Food or monetary donations can be dropped off to Kathy Battles (2729 62nd St), April Wyss (2800 62nd St), or Kathy Roarty (1340 62nd St). April and Kathy R. can also pick up donations if you call/text April Wyss at 515-707-6386, or Kathy R. at 402-657-9905. We will be taking donations now through our annual meeting at 6:30 p.m. on Thursday, January 20, 2022, at the Northwest Community Center, 5110 Franklin Ave. If mailing a check, send it to MHNA at P.O. Box 31036, Des Moines, IA, 50310. 

You can also make a donation via PayPal using MHNA’s email address: merlehayneighborhood@gmail.com. If you make a donation via PayPal, you might consider adding 50-cents or $1 to help offset PayPal’s processing fees.

MHNA members are some of the most generous neighbors in our city. Thank you for helping us make this fundraiser a success!

2020 was a hard year for all of us and 2021 has started out as a difficult one as well. Many of our neighbors and friends in Des Moines are still struggling to put enough food on the table for their families. We can’t get together in person, but MHNA would like to hold a fundraiser to support the Food Bank of Iowa, DMARC Food Pantry, and the two Little Free Pantries in our neighborhood.

After a discussion with the MHNA board and input from several members, it was decided that we can donate money (cash or check) or food items to MHNA and those donations will be split between 4 organizations:

• Food Bank of Iowa
• DMARC Food Pantry
• Little Free Pantry box at Immanuel United Methodist Church, 2900 49th St.
• Little Free Pantry box at Grace Lutheran Church, 5201 Urbandale Ave.  

If donating by check, please make it out to MHNA. Food or money donations can be dropped off to Kathy Battles (2729 62nd St), April Wyss (2800 62nd St), or Kathy Roarty (1340 62nd St). April and Kathy R can also pick up donations if you call/text April Wyss at 515-707-6386 or Kathy Roarty at 402-657-9905. We will be taking donations now through Monday March 15, 2021.

You can also make a donation via PayPal, though we encourage people to pay by cash or check if they’re able so MHNA can avoid processing fees. The following link can be used for PayPal donations: https://www.paypal.com/donate/?hosted_button_id=DQ3UYMUV8HYFN&source=url

MHNA members are some of the most generous neighbors in our city. Thank you in advance for your help in making this fundraiser a success!