FALK’S ICE CREAM PARTNERS WITH THE WOMEN’S FUND

During the first three days of RAGBRAI in Glenwood, Red Oak, and Atlantic, the team at Falk's Ice Cream, along with volunteers from the Community Foundation, sold nearly 2,000 pints of ice cream to riders and participants! We are proud to share that Falk's Ice Cream donated $1,000 to the Women's Fund of Southwest Iowa, a Fund at the Community Foundation for Western Iowa, to support communities in southwest Iowa where poverty, lack of childcare, and issues around women’s safety and health are at a stage of crisis.

THE WOMEN’S FUND OF SOUTHWEST IOWA

In 2018, and after purposeful planning, strategic insight, and a collaborative needs-assessment within the communities that make up southwest Iowa, the Community Foundation for Western Iowa created the Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa – an endowed fund to support nonprofit organizations with a goal to improve the quality of life and well-being of women and their families in a nine-county region: Cass, Fremont, Harrison, Mills, Monona, Montgomery, Page, Pottawattamie, and Shelby. 

The goal of the fund is to reach out and work closely with organizations to identify needs and design tangible solutions. Four focus areas include: 

• Education Initiatives for Women of all ages– Increased focus on STEM initiatives, health and safety, personal finance, leadership, equity, and community engagement; 

• Accessible and Affordable Childcare – Accessible and affordable childcare and early learning programming, and access to safe and affordable transportation related to childcare;  

• Women’s Health, Safety, and Well-being – Services focused on women’s health, safety, education, workforce equity, and well-being. Programs promoting dignity and equity for women and their children; and 

• Aging in Place – Programs and services designed to help women age gracefully in their communities, including access to quality and affordable healthcare, healthy foods, exercise, place-making, family resources, and volunteer services for women aging in place.  

The Women’s Fund of Southwest Iowa awards grants to nonprofit organizations who provide services within the geographic area and can demonstrate need and ability to create change to the benefit, growth, education, and welfare of women and their families. 

The ongoing work to lead the strategy, provide community-based insights and fund development is managed by a steering committee of devoted individuals, and the Community Foundation is proud to share that the Women's Fund -- to-date -- has awarded over $280,000 in grant dollars across southwest Iowa.

FALK'S ICE CREAM

Falk’s Ice Cream was launched in 1933 in Essex, Iowa by four sisters in the large Falk Family. Freda, Elanor, Alice, and Nina became the operators of their farm in the ‘20s when their father, John Falk, became unable to do the tedious hard work on their 140 acres near Essex, Iowa.  The Great Depression in the early thirties forced the Falk Sisters to find a way to keep their farming enterprise afloat.  They did not have time to court like most young and eligible girls did in Essex, and they stuck together to make things work on their farm.  In 1933, they decided to keep back the milk from their small herd of milk cows, and hand crank ice cream in a small milk shed on their farm.  That small shed is still there - in place - and people from everywhere are coming to see it and purchase the exact same ice cream flavors that they started in 1933. Their beautiful farmhouse in Essex has been restored to its original Victorian Style and can be toured by appointment. 

Over the remaining years of the Falk sisters' lives, Falk’s Ice Cream Company became a part of Southwest Iowa’s culture—especially their famous “Lemon Custard” flavor. The new owner, Bill Horner, jumped on the opportunity to purchase the company in 2003, so people everywhere can taste the fantastic recipe he loved.  

The current four flavors of Lemon Custard, Vanilla, Chocolate, and Strawberry are carrying out the legacy of the Falk Sisters by joining forces with the Community Foundation for Western Iowa to provide funds from the sale of the ice cream to the Women’s Fund in nine southwest Iowa counties.  If Freda, Elanor, Alice, and Nina were still alive, this is exactly what they would want to do.