Statewide food drive donations continue to grow

Donations for the fourth annual Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers food drive are running higher than in years past, said Sarah Tagtmeyer, a media contact in the office of Indiana First Lady Cheri Daniels, which organizes the event.

“We already have more participation this year than we did last,” Tagtmeyer said.

The charitable event, which takes place throughout February, is sponsored by Daniels and invites state employees from agencies in Indiana to donate food.

“Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers food drive is a great event for us because it engages many citizens throughout Indianapolis and the surrounding areas to help the needy in Indiana,” said Carrie Fulbright, the media liaison for Gleaners Food Bank.

Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington is also a recipient of food drive donations.

“We’re a pretty small food bank, so we rely pretty heavily on those grassroots food drive donations,” Office and Development Manager of Hoosier Hills Jake Bruner said
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 It was started in 2009 in order to provide aid during the economic downturn.

Particularly important during a recession is the role the food drive can play for the recently unemployed.

“There’s a lot of times a period between when you lose your job and when you can get assistance from food stamps, and that’s where a food bank will come in,” Bruner said.

Although Monroe County’s 6.9 percent unemployment rate is relatively low compared to other parts of the state, the community still needs food assistance.

In order to further increase participation, the program included a variety of competitive and participatory activities.

Most notable among these is the IndiCana competition, consisting of a contest between self-organized teams of employees from state agencies.

“The food drive is something fun. It’s something to get people involved in the office and to give them a chance to help,” said Dawn Anastasia, an administrative assistant in the Office of the Attorney General and a coordinator of the Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers program.

In 2011, the drive collected more than 95,000 non-perishable food items, along with $11,230 to be distributed to impoverished Hoosiers.

This year, the program is expected to raise even more.

“I think that everybody has felt the impact of the economy, but people know that if it’s affecting them, it’s affecting people who make less than them even more, and so the food drive is a way to make sure that there is a resource for those people who need it,” Anastasia said.