Caitlin Clark’s partnership with the Coralville Community Food Pantry raised $100,000 in two years to provide support for those facing food insecurity.
Because of scheduling conflicts, no partnerships will happen this spring due to her demanding schedule as a WNBA player for the Indiana Fever, Coralville Community Food Pantry executive director John Boller wrote in an email to The Daily Iowan.
Clark first partnered with Coralville Community Food Pantry in 2022 to raise $22,000 in honor of her No. 22 jersey. That goal was exceeded when Clark’s partnership brought in over $25,000, according to the Caitlin Clark Foundation website.
In 2023, Clark partnered with the pantry again and helped to raise over $77,000 more for the pantry, her foundation’s website states. Clark appeared at an in-person donation event in April 2023 where dozens of community members appeared to support Clark and the pantry.
The meet and greet events with Clark in 2022 and 2023 also generated hundreds of pounds of essential items for the pantry, according to Clark’s foundation website.
“Caitlin made our local community stronger in many ways. Using her platform to support the work of the Food Pantry is something we will never forget,” Kate Wolniak-Bujakowska, Coralville community food pantry programs assistant, wrote in an email to the DI.
Additionally, GreenState Credit Union in Iowa City contributed to this initiative by matching the total amount of donations brought in by Clark’s partnership.
Tara Wachendorf, GreenState Credit Union’s vice president and public relations director, said matching funds made up part of a $50,000 donation previously pledged to the pantry’s capital campaign.
“We did not partner with Caitlin herself, but we were really pleased to see that it was successful and reached their goal with her help to market and promote it,” Wachendorf said.
This year, Clark finished a record-setting collegiate career at the University of Iowa. Beyond driving the team’s success with her impressive play, Clark also sparked a surge of national interest in women’s basketball before being drafted as the No. 1 WNBA pick to the Indiana Fever on April 15.
Boller wrote that Clark’s stardom helped drive donations, with contributions coming in from across the state, the country, and internationally.
“We are grateful to have been a part of Caitlin’s amazing Iowa story,” Boller wrote. “In the two years we partnered with her, $100,000 was raised from around the globe to support our hunger relief programs here in Coralville.”
Boller wrote that Clark made a long-lasting impact on the pantry, both with the funding she helped raise and the inclusion of Coralville Community Food Pantry as one of the priority areas of the Caitlin Clark Foundation.
“While Caitlin’s schedule didn’t allow for a partnership this spring, we are hopeful to continue to work with her again in the future,” Boller wrote.