We’re holding our annual Halloween soup supper on October 31, 2025, from 4:30 to 7:30pm! The menu will include soups, chili, bread, and desserts, and you may dine in or carry out. We will be accepting freewill donations to benefit the programs and services at SELCC.

“We love being part of Halloween Town and seeing all the spooky and silly costumes,” said Nicole McAlexander, executive director of SELCC. “We invite everyone to stop in to enjoy a delicious meal with your friends and neighbors.”

SELCC is a nonprofit organization that relies on donations from generous individuals and local businesses to provide programs and services to Mount Vernon, Lisbon, and the surrounding communities.

Southeast Linn Community Center is hiring a part-time janitor. The janitor maintains Southeast Linn Community Center and Lisbon Library in excellent condition by cleaning twice weekly. The janitor reports to the Executive Director of SELCC and the Director of the Lisbon Library. Read the full job description below and apply today.

Southeast Linn Community Center is an Equal Opportunity Employer.

All Mount Vernon and Lisbon educators are invited to join us for our very first Educator Open House on Wednesday, October 29, from 4-6pm at Southeast Linn Community Center, 108 S. Washington Street! Come take a tour of our spaces, talk to our volunteers, and learn about all the programs and services we offer to the Mount Vernon and Lisbon communities, as well as the surrounding rural areas.

We’ll be serving delicious refreshments prepared in SELCC’s commercial kitchen. PLUS, we’re partnering with the Teacher Store to provide you with FREE classroom supplies! The Teacher Store truck will be parked right in front of SELCC. Classroom teachers, paraprofessionals, school counselors, school health professionals, and administrators are all welcome to shop for free supplies. (Be sure to bring your school ID!)

If you are not an educator, but would like to stop by and get a tour of SELCC during this time, we welcome you! Please note: Teacher Store supplies are available only to educators with their school ID.

Please RSVP by Friday, October 24. Feel free to let other Mount Vernon/Lisbon K-12 educators know about the open house, so they can reserve their spots as well. We can’t wait to see you!

Our Summer Meals program was a huge success this year!

In 2024, we served free lunch once a week as a pilot program. This year, with the help of the United Methodist Church of Mount Vernon (UMCMV) and First Presbyterian Church of Mount Vernon, we were able to expand the program to serve free meals every weekday throughout the summer. Meals were provided three days a week at SELCC and twice a week at the churches in Mount Vernon.

All meals were prepared in SELCC’s commercial kitchen by staff and volunteers. Meals were open to all, including kids who were home alone and rode their bikes to lunch, kids who came with their babysitters, and grandparents who brought their grandkids. We also served several families throughout the summer who were struggling to balance working from home with caring for their children.

We served 2,666 meals total, averaging 49 attendees per day. Leftovers were packaged and distributed to community members through our food pantry, leaving us with zero food waste. 

In addition to enjoying meals together with neighbors, people were encouraged to select and take home fresh produce provided by SELCC’s community gardens and local growers. At the end of each week, we also gave out weekend snack bags to each child. Five hundred eighty-one snack bags were distributed throughout the summer.

Children had the chance to socialize and to stay for free enrichment activities some afternoons, freeing up their parents’ or grandparents’ time for work responsibilities. The energy was amazing!

This program was truly a collaborative effort. In the spring, our Activities Coordinator worked with the local school cafeteria staff to plan meals based on the students’ favorites. We met with UMCMV and First Presbyterian Church leaders to plan scheduling, volunteer recruitment, and publicity.

More than 110 volunteers assisted with meals throughout the summer, providing over 800 hours of service. Church volunteers helped with cooking, transporting food, serving meals, cleaning up, and packing leftovers.

Thanks so much to Gary’s Foods for doing a “register round-up,” and to all the shoppers who contributed! Funding was also provided by a private donor and a grant from the Linn County Fund at the Greater Cedar Rapids Community Foundation.

We are excited to continue our Summer Meals program next year!

On Friday, August 1, from 4:30-6pm, we celebrated our new community garden collaboration with Seeds of Faith Lutheran Church in Lisbon! Community leaders, volunteers, and church members were invited to join our board of directors and staff for a ribbon cutting, followed by light refreshments. Thanks to the Mount Vernon-Lisbon Community Development Group for making the arrangements!

The new permanent location replaces our original community garden that was on loaned space near the Rehabilitation Center of Lisbon. After receiving grant funding for the raised beds and fencing, the garden installation at Seeds of Faith took place in spring 2025, with all volunteer labor, including Linn County Master Gardeners.

In addition to supplying fresh produce to SELCC and the neighbors we serve, the garden provides a tranquil green space for events, such as yoga. It also offers learning opportunities for youth groups.

Our volunteers continue to maintain our second community garden located near the Lester Buresh Family Community Wellness Center in Mount Vernon. We are so excited to now have two permanent community gardens and can’t wait for next season!

Southeast Linn Community Center was honored to be highlighted in a PBS News article about the challenges of the Healthy Kids Iowa program.

While we are glad to see the state of Iowa working to address summer hunger, SELCC continues to advocate for more efficient, effective programs such as Summer EBT.

Shout out to HACAP, our food bank partner, and to all of our amazing SELCC volunteers who worked hard to get food to as many kids as possible within the parameters of the Healthy Kids Iowa pilot program.