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Recent News
Feeding America has just released it's findings for the Hunger in America 2010 study. The study is the largest, most comprehensive study of domestic emergency food assistance ever conducted. It is also the first research study to capture the significant connection between the recent economic downturn and an increased need for emergency food assistance. To read the report for Northwest Indiana click here.
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February 8, 2010
Make sure you're counted. The 2010 Census will be a snapshot of our nation's population-capturing our changing and diverse America in a fleeting moment in time. But this historic event will do more than tell us who we are as a nation today. It will affect our community's future, our country's future and our own individual futures. The federal government distributes more than $400 billion annually to state, local and tribal governments based on census data. So make sure you participate. The Census form contains only 10 questions and will take about 10 minutes to complete. For more information on the 2010 census click here.
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February 2, 2010
The Community Cupboard will be closed today so we can do some necessary maintenance on our building. We will be reopened tomorrow morning at 10am.
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February 1, 2010
The Food Bank has recently become a participating member of Disney's "Give a Day. Get a Disney Day" volunteer program. This exciting program allows you to earn a free one day pass to any Disney park just by volunteering. That means that by spending a few hours helping us pack food boxes for our BackPack program, helping us deliver the BackPacks, coming out to a Mobile Pantry or one of our many other volunteer opportunities, you can earn a day at Disney. Registering to volunteer is easy. Go to www.giveadaygetadisneyday.com. From there you can sign up and search for eligible volunteer opportunities. Keep checking back every so often as we will be adding new opportunites as they arise. For more information click here.
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January 27, 2010
Our next Mobile Pantry is this Saturday, January 30th, from 9 a.m. till noon. We will be at the Renaissance Towers on 524 Michigan St. in Hammond. Contact Chanda Dixon if you'd like to volunteer.
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January 22, 2010
Yesterday was a day of donations to the Food Bank. Senator Richard Lugar's office donated 11 boxes of children's books to us for use in various programs.
We also received a $1,000 donation from Kim Grabinski and her blog What's That Smell for winning Kraft's "Recipe for Joy" ecard contest. The blog with the most ecards sent won $1,000 from Kraft to be donated to their local food bank in their name. Kim and her readers were able to send an astounding 394 ecards, which put them in first place.
We would like to offer a huge congratulation to Kim and her readers, as well as a massive thank you to both Kim and Senator Lugar's office for their generous donations.
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January 21, 2010
Are you wondering when and where our next Mobile Pantry will be held? You can know check out our Agencies and Programs tab for a complete listing. We will continue to update this list throughout the year as new dates are confirmed so make sure to keep checking the page for new information.
The Food Bank is in need of a volunteer to help with our BackPack Program. We are currently looking for a part-time driver to help us deliver backpacks of Fridays to 10 Gary schools. This person must have a valid driver's license and be comfortable driving a cargo van. The hours of service are 9 a.m. until 1 p.m. The Food Bank currently serves over 200 children and packs over 3,600 backpacks with food. If you are interested in this volunteer opportunity please contact Chanda Dixon.
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January 20, 2010
Did you see the article in today's The Times that featured the Food Bank's Community Cupboard? If not, you can read it online by clicking here. We would like to offer a big thank you to The Times for helping us spread the word about this great program.
There are a few amendments we would like to make to the article however. The first being that in order to be eligible to receive the $35 emergency voucher you must not only be a resident of Lake or Porter Counties, but you must also meet our specific monthly income guidelines. We would also like to stress that the Cupboard acts primarily as an emergency food pantry. While anyone is welcome to shop, our focus is on helping those working-poor families who are in the greatest need and are unable to get to a traditional food pantry due to work schedules.
Our monthly income guidelines are as follows
|
Family Size |
Monthly Net Income |
|
1 |
$1,489 |
|
2 |
$2,003 |
|
3 |
$2,513 |
|
4 |
$3,032 |
|
5 |
$3,546 |
|
6 |
$4,060 |
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January 18, 2010
The Food Bank will be closed today in observance of Martin Luther King's Birthday. We will reopen tomorrow.
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January 15, 2010
Tomorrow, Saturday the 16th, we're holding one of our Mobile Pantries at the Martin Luther King Center in East Chicago from 9 a.m. to 12. Make sure to stop by!
On January 22nd the Gary Chamber of Commerce will host the "Regions Next Top Models Fashion Show." The Food Bank's very own Angie Williams has been asked to be a part of this event. The show takes place at 6 p.m. at Majestic Star Casino. Tickets can be purchased by calling the Chamber office at 219.885.7407.
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January 14, 2010
The Community Cupboard has reopened. We will be open our normal hours from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. for shoppers, and 10 a.m. to 4:30 p.m. for voucher registration. Thank you for your cooperation yesterday.
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January 13, 2010
The Community Cupboard will be closed today. We should reopen tomorrow. If possible, you can call us at 219-980-1777 and we will let you know. Sorry for the inconvenience.
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January 13, 2010
We at the Food Bank would like to offer a huge thank you to the following local organizations for hosting Food Drives for us during December and January...
Jiffy Lube
McShanes
Lakeside FCU
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January 13, 2010
With a new year comes new faces. We would like to welcome new staff members Christina Casillas, Derek Frazier and Megan Sikes to our family here at the Food Bank. Christina works in our Direct Mail/Data Entry department, Derek is our new Food Procurement Manager and Megan is our new Communication/Advocacy Manager. A round of applause also goes out to Chanda Dixon on her new position as Special Events/Volunteer Coordinator.
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January 12, 2010
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana is branching out into the world of social networking. We are now on Facebook, Twitter, Myspace, Flickr and Change. These sites allow us to communicate with our agencies, volunteers, clients and donors directly and in real time. They also allow us to reach out and expand our pool of supporters which helps us broaden our impact on the community. You can check us out by either clicking on the links provided at the right, or by logging into a site and searching for us.
Interested in hosting a food drive? Click here for some tips and materials to help you get started. For an editable version of the Essential 8 flyer click here and for an editable version of the fundraising thermometer click here.
For a copy of our 990 form please click here.
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