SILOS is the name that we’ve chosen as our brand. Silos dot the landscape of all of Iowa, and it is no different here in our home Osceola, in Southern Iowa. They stand as symbols of the agricultural industry that drives our economy and defines our community.

Agriculturally, silos are a symbol of successful harvests. Of a secure food supply for our local area and the world. Of jobs, of stability, of hope.

Politically and socially, silos sometimes take on a more negative symbolism. A silo may be mentioned to indicate isolation and non-inclusion. Narrow thoughts. Self-protection against those that do not share our ideals and visions.

In southern Iowa, in Osceola, there are many groups and organizations working individually to help our less fortunate neighbors and those who have undertaken long and often arduous j0urneys from their native lands simply to share the opportunity to provide for their families, to protect them from famine, to escape violence and restrictive governments. To share the “American Dream”, just as immigrants have throughout the history of our nation.

Unfortunately, the groups, organizations, and individuals that see value in helping the immigrant populations seem to stand in silos of their own. A food pantry here, a clothing donation center there, medical services in another place, government services in yet another. Churches offer donated items and spiritual wellbeing. Schools offer education. All of them are important, perhaps indispensable. But here in Osceola, and across southern Iowa, there is no centralized place that families can go to for all these things. Add to this the language related limitations of some of our new neighbors and the help they need may as well be a silo filled with grain, but the grain is not available to those who need it.

At SILOS, we are devoted to becoming the hub for all these organizations. A centralized marketplace where the content of all those individual silos that lack a marketplace to share their bounties. Not to take over their places in our community but to help them get a better return on the investment they’ve already made. We envision Osceola bec0ming the model community in terms of taking care of our families, our friends, and our neighbors. A model that other rural communities will want to emulate and look to for ideas and guidance.