The Des Moines Area Religious Council has received a $20,000 grant from First Interstate Bank to help provide healthy meals to the food-insecure as need continues to rise. DMARC’s network of food pantries in Central Iowa serve about 20,000 people every month. The group set a single-day record for people served in early November. DMARC pantries served 20,393 people in November. That was not a record, and DMARC officials said a cost-of-living adjustment for SNAP benefits that went into effect in October and the one-time Pandemic EBT program funds have helped in recent weeks. Despite those measures, they said they anticipate higher growth in traffic at their pantries in the coming months. DMARC and other food assistance agencies have seen a dramatic increase in the number of people seeking help putting food on the table this year. DMARC officials have cited rising food and gas costs, and the decrease in Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits that occurred on April 1 for the increase in demand at its pantry network.