COMMUNITY HARVEST FOOD BANK OF NORTHEAST INDIANA INC

Community Harvest Food Bank is a regional member of national hunger relief organization Feeding America. We are also a member of Indiana's State Association of Food Banks. As the regional food bank for northeast Indiana, we serve residents in the city of Fort Wayne as well as the 9 northeast counties of Adams, Allen, DeKalb, Huntington, LaGrange, Noble, Steuben, Wells, and Whitley.

We are proud to be the first US food bank to ever open a blanch, chill, and freeze facility dedicated to the preservation of produce. We are now able to extend the bountiful harvest year round, and provide more nutritious foods to those who need them. We strive to not only feed, but to nourish.

Each year, millions of pounds of food are distributed to hungry children, seniors, and families in need. With 1 in 7 Hoosiers experiencing food insecurity, our programs provide immediate relief from hunger and its effects.

Approximately 350 member agencies receive more than 70% of their food from our warehouse. These agencies include food pantries, soup kitchens, homeless shelters, and other non profits.

In addition, we have several in-house programs that help to bridge the hunger gap in our communities:

• Kids’ Café and Summer Feeding programs offer school children a hot meal during the week at several locations. Community Harvest provides the food and menus; member agency staff and volunteers prepare the meals.

• Kids BackPack/TeenPak are year-round programs that provide weekend food to children and teens in need. These students receive a ten pound bag of shelf stable food each weekend.

• Community Cupboard is a uniquely designed pantry resembling a grocery store. Hungry families are issued vouchers from various member agencies and bring them in, where they will have client choice and the ability to “shop” with dignity.

• Saturday Helping Hands distributes food every Saturday morning from our Tillman warehouse in a drive-through distribution serving over 1,500 families on average each week

• SeniorPak provides shelf stable and fresh foods to low-income senior citizens twice per month

• Farm Wagon is a mobile pantry program that makes 46 monthly visits to cities and rural communities throughout our nine-county region. Refrigerated trucks distribute perishable items such as fresh produce, dairy, and sandwich bread.

• Hope for Heroes is a program that provides monthly food assistance to Veterans and military families in need. Each participant household receives 100 lbs of food each month as needed, plus additional fresh produce, dairy, and bread.

• Crisis Assistance provides emergency food assistance on a walk-in basis to individuals and families