Small town philanthropist
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By Darrell Dodge
Philanthropy can be defined as the practice of giving one’s time, talent, and treasure to make life better for others.
We often read headlines about grand gestures of philanthropy – a wealthy benefactor builds a library or funds efforts to combat disease or promotes early childhood literacy.
Philanthropy, however, goes far beyond wealth and grand gestures.
While she would not claim the title of philanthropist, Tingley’s Donetta Phelps embodies the spirit of giving to her community.
Phelps and her army of volunteers prepare and deliver full meals to local residents on Thanksgiving and Christmas and to the meal site in Ellston following the demolition of the Tingley Community Building.
Phelps didn’t start out planning to be a business owner, let alone a philanthropist.
“I helped Doyle and Connie [Richards] here at the café on Sundays while I was still at the bank just to give Connie a break,” she said, in reference to the Wagon Wheel Café in Tingley. “I wanted a change from the bank, so I came here [full-time] in October of 2012 to try it out a year before I decided if I wanted to buy it. That same December, Doyle and Connie said, ‘Here, it’s yours. Here’s your payment plan.’ Thirteen years later, I’m still here.”
Thanksgiving and Christmas meals
After she graduated from Mount Ayr Community High School in 2012, Jeremy and Donetta Phelps’ youngest daughter, Nichole, moved to Des Moines for further schooling at the Department of the Blind and the former American Institute of Business. While in Des Moines, she spent her Thanksgivings serving meals to the homeless and less fortunate.
Nichole passed away in 2016.
“Thanksgiving was big for her,” Phelps said. “That’s kind of how [our serving Thanksgiving meals] got started. I couldn’t do it right away after she passed away, but I knew I wanted to serve Thanksgiving meals to honor Nichole.”
Phelps’ Thanksgiving meals are offered on a free will basis. Last year, she established Simple Blessings, a 501 (c) (3) organization, to accept tax-exempt donations.
“In the past, we just funded it,” Phelps said. “That’s part of the reason why I formed Simple Blessings because Jeremy and I can’t completely fund it on our own. We want to continue to do this in honor of her and be able to use those funds.”
Since beginning the meals in 2022, Phelps has served just under 300 meals each year.
In the beginning, volunteers served those meals at the Tingley Community Building, but due to the building being destroyed by the 2024 tornado, Hoover Angus, north of Tingley, graciously furnished their sale facility and the desserts to keep the meal program running.
The Phelps donate funds in entirety from the meal toward local needs, such as pool passes for kids, the Shriners (Nichole was a former Shriners’ kid), youth ministries, and ET Readers, the Tingley after-school program.
The Christmas meals are a little different.
“Kelly Richards, Doyle and Connie’s daughter, and I started doing the Christmas Table in 2023,” Phelps said. “It’s a free meal that we prepare here at the Wagon Wheel Cafe, and then we have lots of little elves who go out on Christmas Day and deliver to the elderly or to those who are by themselves or can’t prepare meals anymore.”
People may request a meal be delivered to them or nominate someone to receive a meal. Tax-deductible donations will run through Simple Blessings.
“With the elderly, we want them to make sure that they’re not forgotten,” Phelps said. “I know it’s hard for them when they have family that lives elsewhere, so we want them to make sure that they are getting a hot meal and to see somebody.”
In the last two years, Phelps and her helpers have prepared and delivered around 100 meals each Christmas.
Tingley meal site
For several years, the government program Connections Area Agency on Aging has run a program of delivery of hot lunches to the Tingley Community Building three days a week. In April 2024, a tornado destroyed the Tingley Community Building, but was lucky enough to relocate the meal site to the Ellston American Legion Building.
Meals for the program had been coming from TRIO out of Council Bluffs. When TRIO recently lost their kitchen, the Connections were forced to go to a frozen meal that they had been using at another location for the last year. Due to some delivery issues, Donetta was contacted by Connections to see if she could prepare a meal for the Tingley/Ellston Meal Site at the end of July.
Later, when local patrons received one of the frozen meals, they were, according to Phelps, “less than impressed.” She was again asked to prepare another meal for meal site.
“It was at this point I asked if there was any reason I couldn’t do their meals going forward,” Phelps said. “That was a relief to Sherri (head of the Connections Meal program) as she was thinking the same thing. I just got Tingley/Ellston site meals going, and then the head of the Afton Meal Site (Richard) got hurt. Once again, Connections reached out and asked if I could/would do a meal for the Afton Meal Site once a week. So that’s how I got started with doing the noon meals.”
Phelps prepares the meals at the Wagon Wheel right along with her noon specials three days a week. Connections arranges for delivery to Ellston of around 21 meals each day and another 20 meals for the Afton meal site one day a week.
The new Community Building in Tingley is nearing completion, and Phelps plans to continue serving her fellow residents in whatever capacity she can.
“As long as Connections will allow me to, yeah, I will continue to do their meals for them,” she said. “As long as I’m around, there will be meals, somehow, some way.”
“Somehow, some way” … spoken like a true small-town philanthropist.
