Volunteers load boxes of food for a client at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
The buzz of activity filled the storeroom of the Interchurch Food Pantry, as dozens of volunteers went about the daily work of attacking food insecurity in the area.
People stacked canned foods, loaves of bread, pallets of water and other items to be packed into boxes for clients. Others loaded up carts with the food that would help feed their families for the coming days.
In the past 10 months, the food pantry has fed more than 26,000 households, already shattering the record number of households served in 2021.
“We believe this increase in need is due to high inflation in food costs, gas, rent, and other expenses, coupled with decreased government subsidies,” said Carol Phipps, executive director of the Interchurch Food Pantry. “These increases hit particularly hard the households that we serve.”
At a time when the need from the community has never been greater, the Interchurch Food Pantry is receiving from help from a local health care system. The pantry was chosen to receive a $7,000 Social Impact Partnership Program grant, awarded through Franciscan Health to support organizations providing services to at-risk individuals.
The grant will continue to support the pantry as it attempts to feed more and more people, making every dollar they are able to bring in increasingly important, Phipps said.
“The specific Franciscan Health grant provides funding for nutritious food to serve the food-insecure in our community,” she said. “In particular, we are emphasizing the nutrition needs of the vulnerable population served, in hopes of better serving those with specific conditions such as diabetes, celiac disease and cardiovascular conditions.”
Volunteers organize and sort food for clients at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
Volunteers organize and sort food for clients at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
Different types of bread and buns are set out to pack for clients at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
Fresh fruit and vegetables are set out for clients at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
Volunteers bring out food for clients at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
A volunteer brings out food for clients at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
Volunteers load boxes of food for a client at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
Clients line up in their cars at the Interchurch Food Pantry on Oct. 18 in Franklin. The pantry is seeing unprecedented need, and recently was awarded a Social Impact Partnership Program grant from Franciscan Health.
The Interchurch Food Pantry has been dedicated to alleviating hunger in the Johnson County community for 39 years. And every year, it seems that need for food relief in the area has only grown. In 2021, the pantry distributed the equivalent of 1 million meals to an average 1,736 households per month. This year has been even busier.
So far in 2022, the pantry has served 26,745 households, compared to the entire 2021 year with 20,827 household visits.
“We anticipate 33,000 visits by the end of 2022. This equates to well over 1.5 million meals and 3 million pounds of food,” Phipps said.
The impact the Interchurch Food Pantry has is what made it an ideal choice for the Social Impact Partnership Program, said Kate Hill-Johnson, community health improvement administrative director at Franciscan Health.
Founded as a community health enrichment initiative, the program is designed to establish and build upon partnerships with non-profit health and human service agencies providing services in at-risk communities served by the health system.
“Partnership” is the key idea, Hill-Johnson said.
“As an organization that is focused on our most under-resourced populations, it’s important to use that those populations have everything they need to be as healthy and productive as they can be,” Hill-Johnson said. “When you’re looking at health issues, a lot of it depends on things that don’t happen inside the office. They’re outside of our walls, and we need to contribute to a healthy community so our patients can thrive.”
Leaders hope to foster long-term relationships with community providers to better address significant health issues among vulnerable populations. This year, those issues were mainly focused on physical activity and nutrition, with attention also given to mental wellness, healthy relationships, including pregnancy, parenting and recovery, and housing support.
“This year, we were interested in physical activity and nutrition because of some of our obesity rates, our food insecurity rates and our diabetes rates,” Hill-Johnson said.
Throughout the state, 57 non-profit groups were awarded grants, with a total of $450,000 in funding awarded. In addition to the Interchurch Food Pantry, central Indiana recipients included the Beech Grove Comprehensive Drug-Free Coalition, Catholic Charities Indianapolis, Inc., Gleaners Food Bank, Indiana Center for Prevention of Youth Abuse and Suicide, Indiana Immunization Coalition, Overdose Lifeline, Boys & Girls Club of Morgan County and Youth First.
“This program is a way of disseminating some funds into the community that match some of our priorities, in terms of what we see are the top health needs,” she said.
Recipient organizations will collaborate with Franciscan’s Community Health Improvement team to help the program meet the partner organizations’ goals.
For the Interchurch Food Pantry, the main focus was ensuring that they could provide their clients with food that met their dietary and nutritional needs.
“We understand that some of the people who come to us have dietary restrictions,” Phipps said. “We want to be able to do a better job serving people, whatever their nutritional requirements.”
Those goals, on top of the work they’ve been doing, made the food pantry an ideal partner for the Social Impact Partnership Program, Hill-Johnson said.
“They have proven themselves as a successful food insecurity partner, and we really wanted to help them grow their capacity to help more people in the Johnson County area,” she said.
AT A GLANCE
Interchurch Food Pantry
Hours: Noon- 3 p.m. Monday through Friday; 9-11 a.m. second and fourth Saturdays, starting June 12.
Where: 211 Commerce Drive, Franklin
How to get help: Parking lot opens at 10:30 a.m. Monday through Friday and 8 a.m. on Saturdays. The pantry serves households that earn less than 185 percent of the federal poverty guidelines. For example, a family of four that earns less than $51,338, is eligible to receive food. No documentation is necessary.
Volunteer: Go to jcpantry.org/contact-us or call (317) 736-5090 to volunteer.
Monetary donations: Can be mailed to Interchurch Food Pantry, P.O. Box 147, Whiteland, IN 46184 or via Paypal or Givelify on the organization’s website www.jcpantry.org.
Food donations: Can be dropped off between 10 a.m.-3 p.m. Monday-Friday at 211 Commerce Drive. Drive up to the marked Donation Door beyond the tent by the overhead door. Or, drop it in the after-hours donation shed by the donation door.
Nobody covers Johnson County and the surrounding areas like the Daily Journal.
30 S. Water St., Second floor, Suite A, Franklin, IN 46131
Phone: (317) 736-7101
Toll free: (888) 736-7101
Contact us: [email protected]