The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana extends our gratitude to our entire network of partners, donors, volunteers, and friends who have rallied together to help us serve our neighbors in the Region.
“We are positioning our operations and inventory to adequately address the growing needs of our community by providing food assistance and other critical resources,” said Victor A. Garcia, Executive Director. “Our distribution, delivery, and pickup programs remain open and will continue as such with the utmost caution and preparedness to ensure that children, seniors, limited-resourced families, and others who need it, have food critical to their health and wellbeing.”
“Our management staff are in regular and consistent communication with leaders from the Indiana State Department of Health, the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration, the Feeding America partner food banks in locally and nationally, the Lake County Homeland Security & Emergency Management Agency, Meals on Wheels, the District 1 Hospital Emergency Planning Committee, and other food and emergency response organizations,” said Garcia.
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is currently providing food assistance and resources through the following methods:
- Drive Thru Mobile Market Food Distributions – We are prepacking approximately 40 pounds of nutritious groceries and distributing them to up to 550 households each time, while supplies last. We will offer the distributions several times per week at various sites throughout Lake and Porter Counties. Attendees should bring additional bags and boxes for transport. To find the most recent schedule, visit: www.foodbanknwi.org/mobilemarketplace. Real time updates can also be found on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/FoodBankOfNorthwestIndiana
- Pop Up Milk Distributions – As we continue to receive an abundance of milk, we will host “milk only” distributions in random locations through Lake and Porter Counties, while supplies last. Attendees should bring additional bags and boxes for transport. Real time updates can be found on our Facebook page: www.facebook.com/FoodBankOfNorthwestIndiana
- Senior Food Boxes – We are currently providing approximately 1400 senior food boxes. Each box contains approximately 40 pounds of shelf-stable groceries. Our senior food box program is currently at capacity and not accepting additional seniors at this time. To address the growing need among seniors, we are adding additional drive thru Mobile Market food distributions. If you are/have a senior in need of food assistance, we recommend sending a proxy to pick up groceries on the senior’s behalf from one of our upcoming Mobile Market food distributions.
- Partner Agencies – We currently have nearly 100 partner agencies, pantries, and soup kitchens that are currently working with us to offer food assistance and other resources. Many of them have limited/restricted hours and are offering drive thru service as a safety precaution. To find these services in your community, please visit: www.foodbanknwi.org/get-help.
We ask for your patience during this process. Our team at the Food Bank is working diligently to manage all requests for resources and support. Our greatest need at this time is for financial resources to adjust and increase our operations and inventory capacity. Donations allow us to make purchases in bulk, and tailor our operations as needed in the coming days and weeks. Please direct all donations through our:
- Website: www.foodbanknwi.org/donate
- Facebook fundraiser: https://www.facebook.com/donate/209921900285761/10163149565825024/
- Mail: Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, 6490 Broadway, Merrillville, IN 46410.
We are using small teams of volunteers to help with packing, sorting, and distributions, Monday – Friday, 9am 12pm. If you are interested in volunteering, please contact our Volunteer Coordinator, Jaymie, at volunteers@foodbanknwi.org or 219-980-1777, ext. 316 The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana will stay as informed and prepared as possible with the most up-to-date information from the most reputable sources:
- Center for Disease Control – https://www.cdc.gov/
- Indiana State Department of Health - https://www.in.gov/isdh/