In 2023, Gleaners continued to serve our neighbors as food costs soared and other factors pushed more people to seek help through food banks. Between stagnant wages and rent and utility increases, it's more challenging than ever to meet the need. But we are committed to not just shortening the line, but providing other resources for [...]
In a typical year, Gleaners' donors support 228 mobile pantry distributions in 13 counties. As businesses closed and stay-at-home orders were implemented, many of our reliable agency partners found themselves struggling to find volunteers to keep their pantries open. School closures reduced our distribution outlets by 50%. “Food pantries typically rely on an older volunteer [...]
As the lines at our distributions tripled – and in some cases quadrupled – the number of calls and messages from those with no transportation, or who were ill and quarantining at home, began to increase. People were losing their incomes, and shelter-in-place orders made it difficult for some in the community to get into [...]
When the Indianapolis Public Schools made the decision to close, it was not made lightly. School districts across the state were directing children to stay home after spring break and moving to eLearning. IPS students are particularly vulnerable to food insecurity. Gleaners supports school-based pantries in 25 IPS schools and provides weekly BackSacks to 4,400 [...]
When the COVID-19 pandemic began to hit hard in early March, the number of people coming to Gleaners for food assistance tripled nearly overnight. At the same time, we knew that with the direct correlation between food insecurity and health, those children and families we serve would be at high risk for contracting this virus. [...]
You might recall that just last summer, the Wednesday CARE Mobile location moved to Save-A-Lot, due to an increase in the number of neighbors served. CARE Pantry Program Associate, Brianna, shared a story from a woman she met at Save-A-Lot last week. "During distribution time, a client came up to me and said he [...]
Innovative partnership enters its 5th year. An anticipated 60-70,000 people will be served at 71 distributions this summer. 170,990 Marion County residents are food insecure. Over 46,000 Marion County children are hungry. In the past three years, more than 170,000 people have received food at a CARE Mobile Pantry distribution. Marion County Sheriff’s Office [...]
