Three Johnson County food pantries are traveling to local schools and restaurants every day to collect unused milk, produce and other foods in an effort to stock the shelves for residents in need.
They need volunteers to keep it going.
While pantries traditionally depend on donations from organizations or private collection drives, they are more often turning to rescue programs, where unused food from local schools and restaurants are taken to area food pantries, said Carol Phipps, Interchurch Pantry manager. There are 17 food pantries operating across Johnson County.
For 10 years, Morgan County Food Rescue has picked up food from local schools and restaurants across Morgan, Johnson, Hendricks and southeast Marion County to deliver to pantries. In 2018, Interchurch received more than $400,000 in rescued food for its pantry because of the program.
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Now three Johnson County pantries are taking on the rescue effort.
Interchurch Food Pantry, Mount Pleasant Christian Church Impact Center in Greenwood and The Care Center in Greenwood all received refrigerated vans donated by Morgan County Food Rescue to continue their efforts and are now picking up rescued food themselves. Rescued food is food donated to the pantries from local schools and restaurants that would otherwise go to waste.
When schools set out food for their summer lunch programs and it is not taken by students, they donate it to the food rescue program. Restaurants who pre-make food donates the food that isn’t served. Every food item the pantries receive is checked for opened packaging and expiration dates before it is put out.
Taking on a food rescue program has created a need for more volunteers. Interchurch Pantry, the largest food pantry in Johnson County, has about 300 volunteers each week and is in need of more. Other pantries such as the Impact Center have about 200 volunteers each week to operate.
Once a week, Bill Kirklin, a volunteer at Interchurch, drives to eight schools in Clark-Pleasant and collects boxes of food from their freezer. The food ranges from milk, to juices, to bananas to provide clients who go to the pantry with healthier options.
Kirklin is one of many volunteers needed to operate food rescue programs in Johnson County.
Five days a week, volunteers are driving to various schools and restaurants to pick up food that may have been set out that students didn’t pick up, or may be extra food that they cooked and couldn’t put out. They also pick up food that grocery stores, such as Walmart and Meijer, are no longer going to sell because they received newer products.
Each year globally, one-third of food produced for human consumption is wasted, according to the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations.
Having the different varieties of food and another source to get food from helps pantries provide healthier food, said Steve Saunders, director of Mount Pleasant Christian Church’s Impact Center.
Their goal is not only to feed families, Phipps said, but to make everyone feels welcomed.
“We like to say that we not only give individuals who need it food, but we also give them smiles. We want them to leave feeling better,” Phipps said.
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Interested in volunteering at the Interchurch Food Pantry in Franklin. Here’s the needs:
- Shopping assistant who assists clients with selecting foods.
When: Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday, 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Warehouse staff to sort donations, store product and stock shelves.
When: Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday Thursday and Friday, 10 a.m. – 2 p.m. or 11:30 a.m. – 3:30 p.m.
- Team leader who is trained on all jobs and help run shifts by assisting or replacing the pantry manager.
To volunteer, email [email protected] or call 317-736-5090
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