13 years and 15 Million Pounds

Submitted April 29, 2011 by Ben Shine | 0 comments

INDIANAPOLIS, April 28, 2011 – On Friday, April 29th at 1pm, trucks full of donated food will pull into the Second Helpings building at 1121 Southeastern Avenue for a delicious celebration. After weighing their contents, Second Helpings will officially rescue their 15 millionth pound of food. Food donors, volunteers, community partners, board and staff members will celebrate this significant milestone for the hunger fighting agency which feeds up to 3,000 children, adults and seniors each day with donated food.

Americans throw away a lot of food – an average of one pound a day for every man, woman and child in the country. That’s 27% of our available food supply going right into the trash. Second Helpings partners with dozens of local food distributors, caterers, restaurants, grocers, and others—to safely and efficiently collect surplus and perishable food. On hand tomorrow for the celebration of 15 million pounds will be representatives from major food donors to Second Helpings like Kroger, Trader Joe’s, Costco, US Foods, Sysco, Taylor’s Bakery, Green BEAN Delivery and more.

“A lot of miracles have happened because of Second Helpings.” Says Kurt Cummings, division president, US Foodservice, “We are thrilled and excited to be a part of celebrating such a milestone. 15 million pounds is a remarkable achievement.”

“Second Helpings is the most unique of any hunger fighting agency I’ve seen.“ says Matt Ewer, owner of Green BEAN Delivery, “As a community-based company, it’s important for us to give back. We feel it’s a responsibility. We love what Second Helpings is doing.”
With donated or “rescued” food, Second Helpings does two very powerful things to address poverty in Central Indiana: Their Hunger Relief Program prepares and delivers over 650,000 nutritious meals each year to 60 local social service agencies, like Wheeler Mission, Hoosier Veterans Assistance Foundation, The Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center and Dayspring Family Shelter. By providing meal service for these agencies, Second Helpings frees up valuable time and money for organizations to stay focused on their mission. Second Helpings also uses donated food to train unemployed and underemployed adults in a 10-week, intensive Culinary Job Training Program. The program not only provides students with the cooking skills to find meaningful careers in the culinary industry, it also provides valuable skills to be successful in life.

“We don’t buy food at Second Helpings.” Says CEO, Jennifer Vigran. “Our ability to serve those in need throughout our community is totally dependent on the generosity and support of our food donors. We’re grateful for their support.”

    

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