Capital Campaign

A Call to Action

It’s hard to believe. After 25 years of service to the community, the need for what we do is greater and more important than ever. There’s just no logic to the reality that thousands of children, families, seniors, and hard-working people are hungry. And they are living right here in south central Indiana. This is a problem that we can solve.

Food banks are an indispensable component of a community’s food system and social services safety net. The need for emergency food providers is high and not expected to diminish soon. In 2007, Hoosier Hills Food Bank distributed an organizational-record of 2.3 million pounds of food to our more than 80 member agency partners, 42% more than the prior year and 255% more than in 1995 when we moved into our current 6,000 square foot facility.

Also in 2007, consumer prices for food and energy jumped by the largest amount in 17 years. Prices were also sharply up for housing, health care, and education. Economic forecasts for 2008 are projecting food prices to continue to increase as retailers pass on higher commodity and energy costs to consumers in the form of higher retail prices (Economic Research Services, USDA).

Distribution is likely to remain over the 2 million pound mark this year as we continue to strengthen our effort of increasing the quality and quantity of food reaching vulnerable populations including children, low-income seniors, and economically depressed rural populations.

Our ability to meet the growing regional demand for emergency food assistance is limited by a lack of space at our current facility. We simply don’t have the space to do more. It has become undeniably clear that in order to keep up with the demand for what we do, we must move to a larger facility. This has been confirmed by a Feasibility Study conducted in the fall of last year as well as by member agency surveys. We need more space to distribute more food to more people.

Your community Food Bank has launched a capital campaign so that we can do exactly that: get more food to more people. This campaign is not about a building, it’s about people. However, a larger distribution center is essential if we are to be able to carry out our mission of providing food to people in need.

With your help, we can. Will you play your part by donating today?

The food bank was incorporated November 18, 1982 and distributed its first pounds of food on December 21 of that year. Since that time over 22,000,000 pounds of food have been distributed to non-profit feeding programs in Brown, Lawrence, Martin, Monroe, Orange and Owen counties.

In these past 25 years, we've added programs, staff and volunteers, cultivated partnerships, and increased resources all in an effort to make sure that everyone's basic right of having enough to eat is met. And in 2007, for the first time ever, we have distributed over 2 million pounds of food to our partner agencies serving the community. In fact, we are moving over a million more pounds each year than when we first occupied our warehouse on Fairview Street in 1995.

We have only been able to do this with the generous support of those who share our vision of a community where waste is minimized and everyone has access to nutritious food. Thank you.

As we celebrate our 25th year of serving the hungry in Bloomington and six surrounding counties, we also regret that the need for our and our partner agencies' services continue to increase. We have strived to keep up with need, and we are committed to meeting that demand. Much of this growth is due to rural outreach and increased food distribution to the five rural counties we serve, but the need has been rising in all the communities we serve.

As we work to increase services, it has become undeniably clear that in order to operate effectively and efficiently we will need to relocate to a larger facility to continue our current programs.

Please help support this campaign to increase our warehouse space to continue serving over 25,000 of our hungry neighbors. Your investment will nourish their bodies and feed the hope that everyone needs to realize their full potential. Please give today.

*You can view the full HHFB Feasibility Study here, funded by the Community Foundation of Bloomington and Monroe County.

25 Years of Taking the Hunger Out of Poverty

Hoosier Hills Food Bank, Inc. is a 501(c)3 tax-exempt nonprofit organization and was incorporated in 1982. We can be reached at (812) 334-8374 or hhfb@hhfoodbank.org.