The year 1998 holds special significance for longtime Second Helpings volunteers and donors Uma Kuchibhotla and Muppalla Sukumar. That was the year Second Helpings was founded, and it was also the year Sukumar moved to Indianapolis to work for Eli Lilly and Company.
Ten years later, in addition to her research career at Lilly, Uma served as a United Way Ambassador, learning about community organizations, and introducing them to her colleagues each year. An organization that sparked her interest immediately was Second Helpings. “I was blown away,” Uma remembers. “I went home to share everything with Sukumar, and we started giving through the United Way campaign immediately.”
That immediate interest in Second Helpings’ mission was generated by a matching of values. “Growing up in India, we knew what hunger and poverty in the society was like,” Uma explains. “But when we came to the United States, I was shocked to learn that there was poverty here as well. We assumed everyone’s basic needs would be met in a rich country. We’re still not able to wrap our heads around the homelessness issue here.”
Uma and Sukumar were both taught growing up to waste as little as possible, and now, they cook most of their meals at home, so when they learned about Second Helpings, where food was prevented from being wasted, and instead transformed into home-cooked meals to address hunger, they were sold.
That introduction stuck in their minds. So much so that when Sukumar retired in 2013, “there was no question in my mind what I wanted to do next. The week after my retirement, I came to Second Helpings for my first volunteer shift.”
Since then, the couple has volunteered for a combined 6,700+ hours. Together, they chop produce in the Hunger Relief kitchen every Monday, Wednesday, and Friday morning. Uma also serves on the Board of Directors.
Uma and Sukumar’s partnership with the organization also inspired them to become sustaining donors, including sponsoring Culinary Job Training classes. “Once we started volunteering, we realized how efficiently-run, data-driven, and forward-looking this organization is,” Sukumar shares. “We were even more comfortable donating having seen how well the organization was run.” The couple was awarded Second Helpings’ “Time, Talent, and Treasure Award” in 2018 for their extraordinary commitment to the organization.
During one volunteer shift, Uma and Sukumar noticed a list of names on the wall under the heading “Legacy Society,” and reached out to the Development team to learn more about the planned giving program.
“Having been involved with the organization for so long, it was an easy choice,” Sukumar says. “Often it’s not easy to evaluate an organization for such a big decision, but we already knew so much about it firsthand, and we finalized our planned gift in a couple days.”
Second Helpings is grateful for Uma and Sukumar’s ongoing support to fight hunger, and their Legacy Society gift helps ensure that the organization can achieve its goals for current and future generations of Hoosiers.