Food Finders Food Bank announces Drive Away Hunger as food insecurity continues to grow
LAFAYETTE, Ind. — The Food Finders Food Bank kicked off its annual Drive Away Hunger fall food drive Tuesday morning, asking for people across the 16 countries it serves to help those in their community by making donations.
The non-profit will be accepting donations for its fall food drive for the next month, with the hope of donating 700,000 meals to families this year.
“It’s that one month of the year that we’re really encouraging everyone to think about people who are facing hunger and ways that they might be able to support and help,” said Kier Crites, CEO of Food Finders Food Bank.
Food Finders Food Bank has partnered with several local businesses and organizations to host donation events throughout November.
The day before Thanksgiving, all Tippecanoe County Pay Less Super Markets will host a food and fund drive, and on Thanksgiving Day, Fleet Feet, a West Lafayette running shoe store, will host its Gobble Wobble 5K.
The Food Finders Food Bank will also host its Giving Away Tuesday, where for every dollar someone donates, this year’s sponsors will match up to $20,000. Those sponsoring are, Cargill, Kroger, Primient, Neuhoff Meida Lafayette, Tate & Lyle, Soller-Baker Funeral Home, Evonik, Caterpillar, Subaru of Indiana Automotive, Van Gorder Janitorial and Two Men and a Truck.
During the announcement, Crites highlighted the growing need for Food Finders Food Bank and food pantries throughout the state and country.
She explained that over the past year, the organization noticed an increase in families dealing with food insecurity as usage of the Food Finders Food Bank food pantry increased by 32 percent and other partnered food pantries have seen a 29 percent increase.
Crites noted that this increase in food insecurity matched similar trends that were reported in the United States Department of Agriculture Household Food Security in the U.S. 2022 report.
The report highlighted that around 12.8 percent of households nationwide are dealing with food insecurity, which is significantly higher than the 10.2 percent in 2021 and the 10.5 percent in 2020.
“Of course, those are national numbers, but they are very significant, and like I said, they really just reaffirm kind of the craziness and the huge demand that we’ve seen on the frontlines here, but our local numbers parallel that date as well,” Crites said.
“What people who are facing hunger are telling us, directly from them, is that the end of pandemic era benefits, inflation, high cost of housing and food, all of that has impacted their households and their ability to make ends meet.”
How to Help
This year's Drive Away Hunger goal is to provide 700,000 meals to those in need. This can be done through donations of nonperishable foods, funds and volunteer time. Food Finders Food Bank is also asking people to support its sponsoring partners who are also working on the Drive Away Hunger campaign as another way to contribute.
"We are working with Food Finders, addressing the needs of the community and it is a challenge. We are finding the same thing as we talk to Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington to Fort Wayne," said Eric Halvorson, manager of corporate affairs for Kroger.
"The story is the same; the struggles are the same; the faces that are coming in may change, but the need doesn't change," Halvorson said.
"We need to make sure all of this nutritious food ends up on the tables of the people who need it because we want to make sure that people don't just survive, they thrive."
Food Finders Food Bank also calls on local businesses to host their own food drives or fundraisers.
Information on how and what to donate, how to volunteer and more is available on Food Finders Food Bank's website, www.food-finders.org
Noe Padilla is a reporter for the Journal & Courier. Email him at Npadilla@jconline.com and follow him on Twitter at 1NoePadilla.
This article originally appeared on Lafayette Journal & Courier: Food Finders Food Bank announces annual Drive Away Hunger
