Fire … dangerous cold … the longest federal government shutdown in history.

Thanks to additional funds from Feeding America to support increased efforts during the government shutdown, the Food Bank was able to send more food than ever to agency partners and hosted additional Mobile Markets across the community to meet the needs of people like Taisha, a federal worker in Gary that turned to the Food Bank for help during the crisis.

This past winter, various disasters and crises left countless Northwest Indiana neighbors in a new and difficult situation, with many of them visiting the Food Bank or one of its partner pantries for the first time in their lives.

Many families whose main breadwinner works for the federal government were barely making ends meet during the shutdown. Debilitating cold kept other neighbors without transportation from reaching the grocery store. When schools called snow days, some children who rely on free/reduced lunches for critical nutrition had to go without. A flood in Lake Station and a 25-unit apartment fire left dozens of families in need.

Thankfully, your gifts to the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana helped ensure that no one went hungry.Additional funds from caring organizations and Feeding America allowed the Food Bank to go above and beyond to bridge the gap during this season of hardship.

Without thousands of good friends like you, delivering weekend BackPacks, hosting Mobile Markets, and stocking the shelves at over 100 area pantry partners, churches, schools, and other food sites — both on a regular schedule and at a moment’s notice following a disaster — wouldn’t be possible.

In addition to weekly distributions throughout the community, Mobile Market is open the last Saturday of each month at the Food Bank, where volunteers of all ages help provide healthy food assistance to as many as 500 families.

That’s because feeding hungry neighbors isn’t something we do just during catastrophic events that make the news. It’s been our day-in-and-day-out top priority since 1982. And when hardship strikes, any one of us can find ourselves in a crisis.

Thank you for helping us be there for all neighbors who will face a sudden food shortage this spring. For information on volunteering at Mobile Market or any other hunger relief opportunity, complete a volunteer interest form today.