FOOD FINDERS FOOD BANK INC
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Mission Statement
Food Finders Food Bank collaborates with other organizations to provide food for those in need and to educate, advocate, and address food insecurity in North Central Indiana.
About This Cause
In 2016, the food bank distributed a total of 6.6 million pounds of donated, purchased, and commodity food to hungry families throughout our service area, enough for more than 5.5 million meals. A growing body of evidence shows that food insecurity, or lack of access to adequate food to sustain a healthy life, affects a hugely diverse population. In response, Food Finders Food Bank has intentionally designed its hunger relief services to work together as a continuum of support, meeting the unique needs of several populations through five integrated programs: - Agency Partner Program: Food Finders’ flagship initiative is its role as the largest source of food for a network of over 130 hunger relief agencies, such as food pantries, soup kitchens, and shelters, among others. These agencies are a vitally important piece of the hunger relief system – they are a consistent source of free groceries and meals for hungry families within their communities, and often offer additional services or referral mechanisms to additional public and private sources of support. Through their partnership with the food bank, these agencies provide the most cost-effective method of large-scale food distribution. In FY16, Food Finders distributed more than 3.1 million pounds of food and household products to these agencies. - BackPack Program: Compared to the general population, children have the highest risk of struggling with hunger – and suffer the most devastating short-and long-term consequences. Many local children that receive free or reduced-price meals at school through federal nutrition programs struggle with hunger on weekends and breaks. Food Finders’ BackPack Program provides backpacks full of nutritious, easy-to-prepare food to school-age children on Friday afternoons throughout the school year. The program ensures that children who receive free and reduced-price lunches at school during the week have adequate nutritious food for the weekend. Currently, the program serves over 3,000 children in 16 counties each week during the school year. - Mobile Pantry Program: Mobile Pantries and “Whistlestops” are designed to increase access to nutritious food in underserved communities that lack sufficient access to other food resources, such as food pantries. These one-day, targeted distributions, operated by the food bank in collaboration with partner organizations, provide groceries and household goods directly to food insecure families. Mobile pantries are particularly important in addressing hunger in rural communities, where food pantries and soup kitchens are small or nonexistent. In FY16, Food Finders distributed over 1.6 million pounds of food to more than 30,000 families in North Central Indiana. - Summer Food Service Program (SFSP): When children are out of school, so are free school lunches. Every year, summer break creates an area-wide crisis among food insecure households – putting pressure on families to provide 5 to 10 additional meals per child each week, and often increasing financial obligations for additional child care. Food Finders’ Summer Feeding Program leverages federally-funded resources to provide meals and groceries to children during summer break. The meals are served on-site in low-income neighborhoods and community locations. In 2016, over 28,000 meals were served in communities spanning six counties. - Senior Grocery Program: Homebound seniors struggling with food insecurity experience unique challenges. Special dietary requirements make it difficult to fully utilize traditional food resources, such as food pantries and soup kitchens. Further, seniors with mobility challenges are often left with no recourse when the food runs out – they are unable to travel to grocery stores, food pantries, or even a nearby convenience store for help. Food Finders’ Senior Grocery Program brings monthly deliveries of staple items to area seniors struggling with hunger. Piloted in 2013, this program is currently serving 400 seniors in four counties.