Morning Sun, IA

The Horzions committee became aware that food stamps were no longer accepted in Morning Sun. They have begun working with DHS to coordinate food stamp acceptance at local grocers.

The Horizons committee recieved an astounding response rate to their survey about local food systems. The committee collaborated with the local paper to distribute surveys regarding food systems and co-op opporunities in Morning Sun and received an amazing 126 responses! This is a critcal needs asssement tool that will allow the group to move forward and work with state officials.

The Horizons committee uses table tents in local restaurants, businesses, and agencies to announce their meetings and successes. The table tents also list poverty statistics for the community and the area so that people become more aware of poverty within their community.

Joan Bausch is a woman with a plan. After attending the Horizons spotlight in Ollie last year Joan decided that Morning Sun needed a sign at the city’s entrance. Joan had attended the spotlight session that asked memebers to develop the ideal sign for their town that would describe their town to newcomers. This started Joan thinking about a sign for Morning Sun. She was able to work with the City to have land donated and the design was created by a local graphic designer. The sign is nearing completion and it is indication of the leadership in the community.

MORNING SUN - Three months after the Morning Sun Market went up for sale, the store has drawn little interest from individual buyers, leaving residents concerned that the community’s only grocery store may be headed out of business.
But not if the town’s residents have anything to say about it. At a meeting hosted by the Louisa Development Group, more than 50 residents discussed the possibility of starting a grocery cooperative, or co-op, to manage the store.
Morning Sun’s Terry Crawford has owned the store, along with his wife, Julie, for the last eight years. Asked why he chose to sell, he answered simply, “Too many hours.”
Last year, the store’s supplier, Affiliated Foods Midwest, announced that it would no longer supply to stores that purchase less than $10,000 a week in groceries. As longtime member store, the Morning Sun Market had previously been exempted through a grandfather clause, Crawford said; but not any longer.
Since then, Crawford has been buying his groceries from Dave’s Foods in Mt. Pleasant, which doesn’t deliver to Morning Sun. So Crawford has to get in his truck to drive down every week, and bring the groceries back himself. “It makes Thursday a lot longer,” he said.
And it means higher costs, which have affected Crawford’s ability to keep the store’s three paid employees, to say nothing of his own profit margin.
“We don’t go hungry,” he said, “but it’s hard to cut a paycheck.”
Affiliated Foods still supplies a number of grocery stores in the area, including Dave’s and Walgren’s Market in New London. Walgren’s manager Jim Anderson said his store faces a threshold of $9,000 per week, which is sometimes a challenge to meet. “We have to watch it,” he said. “There’s times when we get real close to that.”
Kathy Vance, Louisa County director for the Iowa State University Extension office, said many smaller towns are having a hard time keeping their local stores, both due to large suppliers’ growing unwillingness to continue shipping to smaller stores and because people who work in larger cities tend to shop there.
“I’ve talked to a lot of store owners around the state, and it’s the same everywhere,” she said. “It’s not unique to Morning Sun. But we’re trying to deal with it in Morning Sun before we lose a grocery.”
The market’s troubles happened to coincide with a series of meetings between Morning Sun residents as part of the Horizons program. Sponsored by the Northwest Area Foundation and Iowa State University extension, the program offers grants to bolster smaller communities. Morning Sun has received $4,000 so far, part of which has been spent on various community projects over the past year.
Angie Sanders, the Louisa Development Group’s executive director, raised the possibility of a co-op at the Jan. 9 meeting, where she was met with a positive response. A six-member steering committee was formed by concerned community members, and held its first meeting Jan.18. Members then opted to embark on a fact-finding tour across the state, to examine how other co-ops and small groceries operate. Its findings will be discussed at the committee’s upcoming meeting next week.

Horizons have clearly helped people in Morning Sun stand up and take leadership. Through the Horizons project the town held a town meeting regarding co-ops and grocery stores. The meeting was a terrific success and with more than 60 people in attendance. The community clearly took leadership of the process. A committee has stepped forward to tour co-ops, buyer partnerships, limited liability partnerships, and other small town grocery options. The committee is will also create a feasibility study to determine local grocery needs and shopping habits. Prior to the Horizons project the town might not have come together to explore the options. Horizons provided the framework for the community to come together and take action to solve their problems instead of just accepting them

Morning Sun has been very successful in helping residents in poverty. The Horizons groups formed a Welcome bag committee that worked with local schools and businesses to make Welcome bags for new residents. The effort was a real success and the youth enjoyed being part of a community project. Morning Sun also completed a Paint-a-thon to help senior residents with their homes. The committee worked with local businesses who donated paint, supplies, and staff time to complete the project. The group felt the Paint-a-thon was very successful and is hoping to hold a Work-a-thon next summer to help people with minor home repairs and clean-up.

The Horizons project has helped Morning Sun focus on what is important to the community and the community feels it is very important to have a community center. The Community Development group meets regularly to create a working plan for a community center. So far the group has secured an architectural drawing from a former Morning Sun resident and they are working with Southeast Iowa Planning to secure funding for the project. The Community Center will be a gathering place for youth and seniors and it will provide the opportunity for programs for all people. The Community Center will be terrific asset for people in poverty in Morning Sun because they will have a place to meet and become a part of the community and they will not have to travel. The center will also provide a meeting place for youth to gather outside of school.

Throughout the Horizons process, in Study Circles, and LeadershipPlenty, groups have struggled with transportation issues in Morning Sun. Transportation is often a big problem for people who are in poverty and people who are close to poverty. A group of concerned citizens met to discuss how to solve this issue in Morning Sun and after much discussion they came to realize that they have resources such as the local area BUS service but few people understand how the system works. So the group is partnering with Southeast Iowa Regional Planning and will be offering a training day for the BUS service. They will train different church groups and community organizations so there will be a large group of residents familiar with the system. They are also creating articles for the local paper and instructions to give to new residents and new public transportation users.

Welcome to the blog! I will be posting information on the Morning Sun Horizons Project. The project is about “community leadership that can act to reverse your town’s economic and population decline, and thrive.” I am looking forward to sharing more information with you in the coming weeks.

Roxanne Bappe