Since the last grocery store in Sheridan closed two years ago, the town has been called a “food desert” by many. Residents had to travel to Westfield or Noblesville to buy fresh produce. Until now.
Wednesday morning saw a ribbon-cutting ceremony for the newly installed produce section at Sheridan’s Dollar General, 3888 State Road 47. Community members and leaders were on hand to celebrate fresh fruits and vegetables returning to town.
“This is of awesome importance because [Dollar General] stepping forward to fill that gap—the ‘food desert’ as we call it—has been tremendous,” said State Rep. Tony Cook (R- Cicero). “We appreciate it here. You can see on Facebook social media is just lit up with people and hopefully they will turn out and support the area. It’s a great opportunity to fill the void and hopefully the community can rally behind it. And hopefully they might see some expansion with this.”
Other community leaders present at the ribbon-cutting agreed that this was an important day for the town.
“I think this is a big deal for Sheridan,” Hamilton County Commissioner Mark Heirbrandt told The Reporter. “I’m excited to see this happen. I’m excited to see Dollar General step up to the plate and help out this community. I love seeing the elected officials and community members who have come out here to help support this.”
According to Dollar General Manager James Snyder, it took almost a year to get the project coordinated and reach Wednesday’s ribbon-cutting. “The community’s really been raving about it. We got it just last Thursday and it took less than a day and a half for it to sell out,” Snyder said. “It was just that popular and fast-moving. I’m glad Dollar General has stepped up and tried to help out this community here.”
Snyder, like other Sheridan residents, has faced hardship since the last grocery store closed. “I have been in the same situation as everybody else that lives here or in the surrounding community,” Snyder said. “I had to drive at least 20 minutes in any direction to get produce.”
Purdue Extension Community Wellness Coordinator Gloria Del Greco was credited by many as being the force behind this project.
According to Snyder, “This project came together with Gloria Del Greco. She came in after the IGA closed here and Sheridan had become a food desert. There was no fresh produce, no meats. In here we had some things to supplement that but we didn’t have the fresh produce.”
Sheridan Town Council President David Kinkead agreed that Del Greco was the person most responsible for this project. “Gloria Del Greco is the ramrod. She’s really worked hard at this,” Kinkead said.
Del Greco said she was excited by the turnout Wednesday and all the support that made this possible.
“This is awesome,” said Del Greco. “This is not really the end of a project, but it’s a good first step to get everything going in this community—to get the awareness out there and get the community to start making healthier choices because they’ve got produce available.”
Del Greco was in the majority in believing this is only the first step for Sheridan.
“I want to be very clear that this is a just a stepping stone to where we need to get to cross the finish line,” Heirbrandt told The Reporter. “We need a supermarket here.”
Kinkead agreed. “Like Mark said, this is just a stepping stone. We need a grocery here bad but with this, maybe somebody will notice there is a great need for it. It’s just a stepping stone,” Kinkead said. “There’s a lot of interest and a lot of need for fresh vegetables and meat. These guys have stepped up and tried to get it started.”
Even knowing there is more work to be done to get Sheridan the local fresh food access the community needs, the joy at seeing produce return to town was evident in the size of the crowd and in many comments from those present Wednesday.
“This is just so awesome because Sheridan has gotten behind it,” Del Greco said. “This is like ‘Hallelujah’ for the community.”