HANCOCK COUNTY — After struggling to meet a record level of need throughout the county last year, local food pantries are stocked and stable heading into 2021.
Many report having a sufficient amount of supplies to meet the day-to-day demand.
“The Hancock County Food Pantry is doing fine,” volunteer Tom Ferguson said. “We are well provisioned — full in fact — and are giving out more food per visit than ever before.”
The same is true at the Main Street Food Pantry, run by Gateway Community Church of Fortville.
Pantry director Debra Johnson said the pantry is sufficiently stocked, and volunteers are looking forward to serving the community throughout the year. She also expressed gratitude to those who have donated items to keep the pantry going.
“While the level of need has gone up, the level of giving has gone up as well. We were blessed with gifts from several food drives over the holidays and have been able to keep our pantry stocked,” she said.
The Main Street pantry served about five more families each week than usual last year, an increase of 20% to 25%.
Johnson anticipates the pantry may serve even more this year, as it’s expanding its hours to include two hours, from 9 to 11 a.m., the third Saturday of each month.
“We anticipate large growth and additional need in 2021 with the addition of these hours,” she said.
The pantry accepts food or cash donations. The most often used or needed items include peanut butter, spaghetti sauce, canned meat, beans and soup and side dishes like instant potatoes, rice and macaroni and cheese. Canned fruit and vegetables are also high on the list.
The same non-perishable items are also welcome at the pantry run by Cross of Grace Lutheran Church in New Palestine.
Head pastor Mark Havel said the congregation has done a great job of keeping the pantry stocked, with help from the community at large.
“In December, Sugar Creek Elementary School did a food drive for us, and they provided a ton of food. That kind of thing happens at least once a year, with one of the local schools helping us out,” he said.
While the relatively small pantry hasn’t seen a huge increase in recipients over the past year — they served roughly 30 households in 2020 — Havel said a couple of new people contacted the church just this week.
“We don’t have a big operation — we’re nothing compared to Gleaners or the Hancock County Food Pantry — but we do what we can to help those in need. We just want to be good neighbors and help people when they need help. We figure if we can help them with groceries they can use that money to pay another bill,” he said.
Havel said recipients can come to the pantry once a month to get what they need based on the number of people in their household.
In addition to non-perishable foods and supplies like toilet paper and laundry detergent, the pantry also gives out gift certificates to the nearby Needler’s Fresh Market, which offers the church a discount to support those in need.
Ferguson credited the community’s generosity with keeping the Hancock County Food Pantry — the county’s biggest food pantry — afloat during a challenging year last year.
The pantry never closed last year, despite increased demand resulting from the fallout of COVID-19. Board members and volunteers scrambled to meet the growing need that arose as more and more individuals lost their jobs and had trouble making ends meet as restaurants and other businesses were temporarily shut down for roughly a six-week period last spring.
In the past, clients were able to walk through the pantry and “shop” from a variety of items. Last year, however, the pantry switched to a curbside delivery system with prepackaged items to enhance social distancing.
“We will continue to do so for the foreseeable future. This is for the protection of both the clients and our volunteers,” Ferguson said.
The pantry served an average of 450 families per month last year, he said, which were spread out across 606 households visits per month.
“Since families are allowed to receive food twice per month, about 35% of the families returned for a second visit,” Ferguson said.
The food pantry board anticipates that food insecurity will continue to increase this year, he said, as the pandemic lingers and creates ongoing economic uncertainty, but they feel the pantry is prepared to meet the need.
While the pantry is blessed to have a sufficient number of volunteers, “we will still welcome more to supplement our ranks,” Ferguson said.
WHERE YOU CAN FIND FOOD
Following is a list of food pantries throughout Hancock County. Check with individual pantries to confirm distribution dates and times.
Cross of Grace Lutheran Church Food Pantry
3519 S. County Road 600W, New Palestine
317-861-0977
Online: crossofgrace.org
Fortville Christian Church Food Pantry
9450 N. County Road 200W, Fortville
317-485- 4934
Online: fortvillechristian.com
Hancock County Food Pantry
741½ S. State St., Greenfield
317-468-0273
Online: hancockcountyfoodpantry.com
Life Choices Care Center
1454 N. State St., Greenfield
317-467-9700
Online: lifechoicescarecenter.org
Food pantry for baby food and baby formula
Main Street Food Pantry
Gateway Community Church of Fortville
115 N. Main St., Fortville
317-485-5418
Online: gatewayfortville.org/foodpantry
Vineyard Community Church at Mt. Comfort
1672 N. County Road 600W, Mt. Comfort
317-894-3280
Online: facebook.com/vineyardcommunitychurchatmtcomfortfoodpantry
Wellspring Community Food Pantry
1551 E. New Road, Greenfield
317-462-2015
Online: wellspringind.org
Gleaner’s Mobile Food Pantry
Gleaner’s Food Bank, the area’s largest food bank, makes regular visits to sites in Hancock County
Online: hancockcountyfoodpantry.com/mobile-pantry-dates. Also, you can visit the food bank’s site at gleaners.org
