Farmer shines Christ's light on hungry people

December 12, 2023

Andy Conner is on a quiet quest. 

For about 30 years, this farmer has cultivated a few acres of his land, located a short drive outside Des Moines, to give away its bounty: eggs, meat, potatoes, squash, and vegetables. 

Why?

“We all have something to do until God takes us home,” he said. “I feel my job is to feed people.”

Conner doesn’t like the spotlight. 

But now, in the season of giving, he is sharing why he gives generously in the hope that others might also feel moved to help people. 

The spark for his passion to alleviate hunger is rooted in his faith.

“I fell head over heels in love with the good Lord through my Bible,” Conner said. “I read the Bible for 30 years. Everything in it, to me, is we should never have a hungry human being, and that’s what I strive for.”

He believes all of God’s children should be treated with respect.

“The first step is just realizing they’re people,” he said. “They’re not ‘the homeless’ or just ‘the hungry.’ They’re men, women and children. They need love and shelter. If I have more than I need, why not share?”

Conner grew up on a farm and farmed about 320 acres with his brother. He worked in the wholesale meat business and became an electrician.

“I used to see a lot of hungry people,” he recalled. “I couldn’t understand how someone like me – raising five kids and not having a lot of money – wasn’t hungry and those folks were. The good Lord put it on my heart: If you have extra, do something with it.”

And do something he has. He grows hundreds and sometimes even thousands of pounds of potatoes. He takes truckloads of apples and dozens upon dozens of eggs from his farm to area pantries.

“For a while, we were getting close to 50 dozen eggs every two weeks that I was taking to the shelters for him,” said his childhood friend, Al Sieren. 

Conner’s food has been distributed to people like a single mom with two kids, a man working two jobs and trying to make ends meet, and a homeless person trying to get out of poverty, said Steve Havemann, executive director of the St. Vincent de Paul in Des Moines, which operates two food pantries.

Conner’s generosity is inspiring, Havemann said.

“One of the beautiful things about Iowa is when someone like Andy steps up, other people follow,” he said. Conner and others at St. Patrick at Irish Settlement have provided food for some of the nearly 22,000 people who came to the pantries seeking a meal this year.

Conner keeps rooted in his faith as he gardens. He built a wooden cross that stands about 8 feet tall by what he calls his “labor of love garden.” 

“He’s so generous with his resources,” Sieren said. “He feels blessed that God has given him a good life and he just wants to help other people. He’s really inspired me.”

Conner has just one condition for the pantries that get his bounty: The food must be given away. No charge.

“I’ll give it to a millionaire or a poor man, but it won’t be sold,” he said. “That’s not what the good Lord wants me to do. It never gets sold.”

Conner’s brother, Tom, helps distribute his sibling’s bounty to the Catholic Charities Food Pantry in Des Moines. 

“The people who ultimately receive it are appreciative,” said Tom Leto, program manager for Catholic Charities Food Pantry.

We have a lot of grateful guests. They’re excited to see freshly grown produce.”

He invites anyone who might want to help to come take a tour and volunteer for an hour or two to see the need.

“We appreciate what the Conners do for us and we appreciate all the local gardeners and farmers,” Leto said.

“I think sometimes people will come, see the volume of need, see the appreciation everbody has, and I think that inspires them. They think ‘I’m going ot get more and bring it back to them,’” he said.

Sieren takes Conner’s produce to the St. Vincent de Paul pantries. A friend who is a Pentecostal minister in Perry offers his food door-to-door to the needy, and another takes some to a pantry in Osceola.

In years past, Conner would fill up his pickup with watermelon and other produce and park across the street from MercyOne hospital in Des Moines and give the food out for free. When someone would ask how much they could take, Connor said he’d invite them to take as much or as little as they needed. 

Just a few weeks ago, Conner continued a tradition of taking 50-75 pumpkins to House of Mercy in Des Moines for the children.
“This year, the kids all drew and colored little pictures for us, thanking us,” Conner said. “I damn near cried on the way home. A little pumpkin no bigger than a softball made those children so happy. It makes you know we can all do something.”

As he’s grown into middle age and coped with periodic health issues, Conner has scaled back his farm to about 16 acres. His garden is smaller, too. He still works the land, and he still prefers to stay out of the limelight. 

“I think Andy has a very deep faith. He doesn’t draw attention to himself,” said his pastor, Father Tom Dooley. “He just quietly lives the Gospel by sharing the goodness of the land with folks who go to bed hungry or need a little assistance.”

Conner refers to the story of Jesus multiplying the fish and the loaves to feed thousands as a call to action for himself and others. As humble as Conner is, it’s a simple truth that he has likely fed tens of thousands of people over the decades. 

“All I try to do is make Jesus smile,” Conner said. “It warms my heart a million degrees if I think I made him smile today.”