Local Partnership Provides Food Boxes For Southside Families

A group of Indianapolis nonprofits says the impact of the pandemic is still an issue for food insecurity in central Indiana. It’s working to reach more families on the southside and partnering with the University of Indianapolis to engage students.

The university’s Community Health Network partnership director, Gurinder Hohl, says they started in May with non-perishables, and now they’ve added produce.

“Today we have mixed greens, radishes and strawberries which are put in boxes that are donated by cleaners,” says Hohl. “These boxes have non-perishable food items so that the individuals who are picking them up have groceries for the rest of the week.”

South Indy Quality of Life -- or SoIndy -- is also working in the partnership, which gives households the food boxes at La Luz del Mundo (Light of the World) church on the southside.

The partnership has been working together since 2017, and Hohl says since unemployment went up, more people have been coming to get the food.

Hohl says the pandemic also interrupted their food supply forcing UIndy students to help plant at a later date.

“This year we had a very, very small group of students because we were still practicing very strict social distancing because we planted the gardens on April 17,” says Hohl.

The partnership distributes produce packs at the church weekly on Wednesday afternoons. It hopes to keep expanding with more gardens around the southside of Indianapolis.