GREENFIELD — Elizabeth Reynolds selected fresh fruits and vegetables with the likes and dislikes of each of her four children in mind.
On Tuesday evening, there was plenty of fresh produce to be had at the local food pantry — tomatoes, oranges, greens and more for Reynolds to choose from on her second visit to the facility this month.
The Hancock County Food Pantry this month began allowing clients to come and pick up food twice a month. It’s a major change for the pantry: Previously, individuals or families could only receive food from the organization once a month. The change was mandated by Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and Feeding America, because the local food pantry is a part of the Gleaners network, said Tom Ferguson, food pantry board of directors president.
Reynolds said the extra visit is a relief for her, with cold weather and E-learning days keeping her kids at home more often.
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Click here to purchase photos from this gallery“We’ve got a lot more meals and a lot more snacks for everybody,” she said. “It’s amazing, seriously.”
In January, 151 families chose to make second visits to the food pantry, said board secretary Liz Rusche. That’s more than 25 percent of all visits in January — at about 700 household visits total, she said.
The nonprofit organization, which serves an average of 528 households a month with its all-volunteer corps, receives USDA foods from Gleaners as one of its pantry partners — a model for all of its 260 food pantries in its 21-county service area, said Sarah Estell, Gleaners senior director of communication.
Feeding America recommends pantries allow clients to come weekly, but the Indianapolis-based Gleaners recently asked pantries under its umbrella to move to serving twice monthly in the next two years, Estell said.
The Feeding America network is the nation’s largest domestic hunger relief organization, with 200 food banks like Gleaners and 60,000 food pantries working to distribute food to people in need, according to its website.
“We never had a service requirement for the pantries we work with in the past,” Estell said. “With an increased emphasis on more perishable food, once-a-month visits just isn’t sufficient in order to get healthy, nutritious food.”
In rural areas, food pantries may see up to 40 percent of households make repeat visits, Rusche said.
Ferguson and the board of directors had some trepidation about expanding to twice a month, including how to make up for an expected 30 to 35 percent increase in expenses — raising the pantry’s annual operating expenses to about $200,000 — and the additional burden on volunteers, he said.
Ferguson said the pantry’s board of directors does not have any current plans for fundraisers to gather extra funding; the pantry uses word-of-mouth and social media to find donors and food resource streams, he said. An annual banquet for the pantry, a previous tradition that supported the pantry heavily, hasn’t been held for five or more years, Ferguson added.
Anyone wishing to make financial contributions to help the pantry continue to provide healthy food to community members in need may donate online at hancockcountyfoodpantry.com or mail checks made out to the Hancock County Food Pantry to Hancock County Food Pantry, 741½ S. State St., Greenfield, IN 46140.
The move did have one unforeseen consequence — the computer system used by the food pantry would not let them keep track of who had made a second visit, so they had to find a new program, Ferguson said.
Ferguson’s biggest concern is not financial, but lies with the dedicated volunteers who keep the pantry running. The pantry has no paid staff.
Volunteers come in for 90-minute shifts typically, he said, but during a recent evening, some were there for three hours serving people. Each shift is normally staffed by about eight to 10 people, but volunteer leaders are looking to increase the number of volunteers on each shift to keep things moving.
“When a volunteer comes in expecting to be there for 90 minutes, and that turns into three hours, that dog doesn’t hunt,” he said. “We have to make sure we don’t abuse our volunteers in that way.”
He hopes to increase the pantry’s volunteer corps so no one gets overwhelmed, he said.
Rusche, a member of Brookville Road Community Church in New Palestine, said she’s working to round up more volunteers for Wednesday nights to help keep those shifts short.
On Tuesday night, a one-hour shift covered by Covance employees and their families, leader Julie Wolfe suspected the cold weather kept some folks at home. Only 17 households made a stop at the pantry that night, she said.
People travel to the food pantry by all different means, she said: they catch a ride, or drive themselves. Some people walk or drive mopeds.
While Hancock Area Rural Transit provides rides free of charge to anyone traveling to the Hancock County Food Pantry, transit coordinator Cynthia Harrison said she’s not seen an increase in demand for rides yet.
Reynolds said she drove to the food pantry Tuesday night, and while it was plenty cold, it was more than worth it to be able to have plenty of food for her family.
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Here are the guidelines for who is eligible to receive food from the Hancock County Food Pantry:
1. Hancock County resident with proof of residency — photo ID, bank statement, utility bill or other proof.
2. Meet monthly income guidelines — 185 percent of the poverty level or lower.
3. Sign an affidavit stating your income level is true.
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1994: Jack and Sue Goff start a food pantry at Faith United Methodist Church.
1999: The Hancock County Food Pantry moves to 35 E. Pierson St., joining the Hancock Hope Hope House homeless shelter.
2007: The food pantry moves to its current location, a 4,000-square-foot former machine shop at 741½ S. State St.
2017: The pantry serves more than 500 families each month at its permanent facility and partners with Gleaners to also offer mobile pantry stops.
2019: The county food pantry begins allowing clients to come two times a calendar month instead of once.
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Now that the Hancock County Food pantry will be allowing people to visit twice a month, it will need to raise more funds for operating expenses. Anyone wishing to make financial contributions to help the pantry continue to provide healthy food to community members in need may donate online at hancockcountyfoodpantry.com or mail checks made out to the Hancock County Food Pantry to Hancock County Food Pantry, 741½ S. State St., Greenfield, IN 46140.
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The Hancock County Food pantry is open four days a week:
Monday: 1-2:30 p.m. and 5:30-6:30 p.m.
Tuesday: 9-10:30 a.m. and 6-7 p.m.
Wednesday: 7-8 p.m.
Thursday: 7-8 p.m.
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