Hundreds line up for free food distribution in Anderson

Second Harvest Food Bank has weekly distribution events in eight central Indiana counties.

ANDERSON, Ind — Hundreds of cars lined up for a free food in the parking lot of an old Kmart store in Anderson Friday morning.  

Second Harvest Food Bank said they have been distributing food in central Indiana for a few years, but that the demand in 2020 has been unprecedented.  

“We’re going to, by the end of this year, have given away around 13 million pounds of food,” said Second Harvest Food Bank truck driver Billy Sanders. “Last year, we were around eight million pounds."

It’s a need for a necessity that 37 million Americans were unable to afford prior to the pandemic. Now, twice as many people across the country are estimated to not know where their next meal is coming from, according to Feeding America. Here in Indiana, 18-19 percent of the state’s population is projected to be suffering from food insecurity this year.  

“We’ve seen increases from 300 cars a day to upwards of 700 cars a day,” said Sanders. He said the demand depends on the unemployment rate in the particular county where Second Harvest Food Bank is distributing items.  

“The pandemic has really increased the need,” said Second Harvest Food Bank’s Chris Box. “People losing their jobs, or not knowing if they’re job is secure…people afraid to go to the grocery."

30,000 to 40,000 lbs of food distributed to families by @curehunger in #Anderson today next food distribution is in New Castle on Tuesday#hoosiershelpinghoosiers @WTHRcom

— Sarah Jones (@SarahJonesWTHR) December 4, 2020

Both Box and his colleague Nathan Sanders described how, at the start of the pandemic, many people would come to the food distribution sites because they feared being exposed to the virus at a grocery store.  

Second Harvest Food Bank said it sees no sign of the demand for free food slowing down, especially as the winter months and holiday season approaches, a time of the year that is usually peak season for food banks.  

“Typical increase plus COVID-19 increase, we’re pushing out a lot more food than we normally do,” said Nathan Sanders.  

“We’re going to see an uptick (in demand) for the foreseeable future,” added Box. 

“Until the economy gets back to a better spot, more people are not going to be able to provide their family food,” said Nathan Sanders.  

Second Harvest Food Bank estimated the food distributed in two hours Friday in Anderson would serve about a thousand families because each car receives enough food for three families and they had enough food to serve a little over 300 cars.  

The food banks said they’re able to serve large amounts of people because of the donations from grocery stores and Gleaners Food Bank. 

“We average eight to ten truckloads of donated food a week, and when I say truckloads, I mean semis,” said Billy Sanders.  

“That’s in and immediately out,” Box and Nathan Sanders said. 

“We give away approximately 70 pounds of food per car,” said Billy Sanders. 

Most of the food distributed is fresh produce, which goes directly to families in need.  

“The nutritional value of fresh produce and fresh fruit outweighs that of canned goods,” said Billy Sanders.  

Second Harvest Food Bank said they’ll continue to provide as long as Hoosiers are in need. They have weekly distributions scheduled in eight Indiana counties. Click here for their schedule.