Hunger Action Month calls on community to help food bank

FORT WAYNE, Ind. (WANE) – September is Hunger Action Month, a time to raise awareness of food insecurity and to inspire the community to volunteer their food, or their time, to halt hunger.

At Community Harvest Food Bank, several shelves are stocked with cans, bags and boxes of food, ready to be thrown into the shopping cart.

The nonprofit cycles through one million pounds of food each month. Katie Savoie, director of development at Community Harvest, said that stockpile of food is still not enough to feed the estimated 99,000 food-insecure people in northeast Indiana.

Savoie said the food bank has seen a decline in food throughout the past couple years.

“The food landscape has gone through a lot of change,” Savoie said. “As a trend, I would say that donations from certain places have gone down, and it’s just a matter of rising costs and increased efforts to reduce waste.”

It came to a point in April when Community Harvest officially limited the amount of food one family could take to half of the normal amount. This new rule lets those in need walk out with 50 pounds of produce instead of their usual hundred-pound bounty.

Although residents are restricted with their food intake, the policy did allow the nonprofit to continue its mission to nourish its nine counties, feeding the increased number of hungry humans knocking at its doors.

“We have a lot more people come in, in need and people who have never had to use a food bank before,” Savoie said. “That really kind of sends out the alarm bells because there is a lot of need out there that is new.”

With Hunger Action Month being celebrated in the coming weeks, Community Harvest is hoping to steadily increase their supplies. This would not only allow the nonprofit to feed as many people as possible but to also get a jump on donations ahead of winter months.

“We have holiday meals coming up,” Savoie said. “We have people who are going to be having rising utility bills… all these different things people tend to have a harder time in the colder months just because of increase cost of other things.”

Community Harvest is seeking food that requires minimal or no cooking which includes oatmeal, ramen noodles and peanut butter. Goods can be dropped off at one of the locations on 999 E. Tillman Road or 1010 N. Coliseum Blvd.

To learn more about the mission and needs of Community Harvest Food Bank, visit the organization’s website .

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