By MARK HALL
Feeding Team Feature
This month’s column is about volunteerism. Feeding Team is a 100-percent volunteer organization with no paid employees. Our expenses are funded through personal and corporate donations along with our annual fundraiser, the Feeding Team Festival, which this year will be the afternoon of Oct. 1 at Federal Hill Commons in Noblesville.
Regularly, food is donated by individuals, families, churches, companies, and other civic-minded groups. Small amounts of food are donated directly into any pantry. Larger amounts are received by appointment at our office. What happens every week is a full circle of service where neighbors helping neighbors is the reality.
As a family, we have been doing food charity service work for over 16 years – in inner-city Indianapolis with Shepherd Community Center – before launching Feeding Team a few years ago. Over the years, we have watched firsthand the difference volunteers make in the lives of many, including themselves.
This weekend is our annual Feeding Team volunteer recognition dinner. It is the one time a year when as an organization, we get to say thank you to almost 100 people who volunteer in some capacity making no-questions-asked meals available to families who might otherwise go without. Feeding Team volunteers invest approximately 7,000 hours of volunteer time annually.
This column is to recognize the volunteerism that is the engine that drives feeding hungry neighbors. While it would be appropriate to name each name in bold 36-type font, most prefer to remain anonymous, so I am opting to offer the readers a peek into what our volunteers do.
Volunteers pick up, distribute, sort, and stack almost 8,000 nonperishable meals each month. Volunteers pick up and deliver food to 44 pantries. Volunteers deliver, sort, clean, repair and maintain pantries. Volunteers manage the food in ways that prohibits it being returned for cash. Volunteers manage the website, email accounts, technology, vehicles, trailers, food storage, insurance, planning, inventory, donation relationships, food purchase relationships, banking, 501(c)(3) compliance, location requests, questions, partner requests and media requests. Yep, it is a lot, and we are grateful that as we have grown, neighbors continue to come alongside the team to serve.
Without the dedicated efforts of so many volunteers, donors, and friends of Feeding Team this would not be happening all over Hamilton County every week.
With over 27,000 food-challenged neighbors in Hamilton County, FeedingTeam.org provides outdoor 24/7/365 no-questions-asked free food pantries throughout the county.
Neighbors ask, “Why do this? What is in it for you?” The answer is always the same: Serving people feeds my soul. It is a calling, not work.
When criticized or questioned, I encourage people to learn my story before assuming anything. There were suppers when we as a young couple with young kids could only afford Dinty Moore beef stew and a potato for dinner. Surreal moment. This is why the pantries exist. As a typical young family, we could not always make ends meet.
Thank you for embracing the pantries. We love serving with so many neighbors across Hamilton County.
In future columns we will share more stories from neighbors about how your generosity served them in times of need. Be assured that the face of hunger in Hamilton County is not what you may think.
In practical terms, this straightforward way to help neighbors is having real impact on lives, families, and our communities. Thank you. A few meals can change the course of a person’s life. A can of green beans means so much more when you have nothing to feed your kids. Would you like to get involved? We are in the process of evaluating our next pantry locations. If you think you have a potential location, please contact us.
Mark and Lisa Hall are the Founders of Feeding Team. They may be reached at lisa@feedingteam.org and mark@feedingteam.org or by calling (317) 832-1104.