Indiana food banks distributed 84.8M pounds of food in 6 months. Here's how they did it.

The food distribution line that zig zags through the parking lot of the Indianapolis Urban League is designed as a drive-thru, but Kathie Harvey takes a different route.

Every Tuesday, the 71-year-old resident of nearby Goodwin Plaza apartments rolls a laundry cart across the street to fill it up with donated food. It helps stretch her social security and lets her avoid extra trips to the grocery store during a pandemic.

"It's lovely," she told IndyStar during a recent pick up.

Hunger relief is not typically part of the Urban League's services. But since April, the civil rights organization has served more than 100,000 meals to 50,000 families. The organization's expanded footprint is the result of an unprecedented need for food distribution in Central Indiana and beyond.

It's just one example of how Indiana organizations have pivoted to meet the growing need of Hoosiers hurt by the economic downturn caused by the pandemic.

The U.S. lost a historic 20.5 million jobs in April after the nation shut down to help prevent the spread of the coronavirus. The jobless rate hit a staggering 14.7%, the worst since the Great Depression. And as the number of jobless Americans soared, so too did the demand at the nation's food banks.

An Associated Press analysis of data provided by 181 Feeding America food banks shows average food distribution was up nearly 57% in the third quarter of 2020 compared to the third quarter of 2019. In Indiana, the organization's food banks distributed nearly 71% more.

The data doesn't capture every food bank in the country or in Indiana, and food distribution data is volatile. But Indiana hunger relief organizations describe an unprecedented amount of mobilization — including the deployment of the National Guard — to hand out more than 84.8 million pounds of food during the first six months of the pandemic.

"It's essentially completely uprooted our world and significantly increased our work and stress," said Julio Alonso, executive director of the Bloomington-based Hoosier Hills Food Bank.

Food banks adapt during the pandemic

As was the case for much of American life in March, everything changed for food banks. Volunteers disappeared, distribution points shuttered and the quarantine rush on grocery stores strained food bank supplies.

Organizations didn't just have to grapple with how to get enough food for the increased need, they also suddenly had to find new ways to distribute it. As schools shut down, so did distributions sites for the food banks — about 300 sites for Gleaners alone.

Food banks leaned more on mobile pantries and deliveries. John Elliott, president and CEO of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, said his organization partnered with Indianapolis Public Schools to deliver food and pre-packed meals along 25 bus routes.

Food pantries are typically set up akin to grocery stores, and patrons are invited to come in and "shop" for their food. The pandemic did away with that. Instead, Alonso said, Hoosier Hills was setting up pallets in parking lots. Boxes of food were loaded into cars, at times with the help of hundreds of Indiana National Guard members that were deployed earlier this year to help the food banks.

Organizations not typically in the hunger relief space such as Flanner House or the Indianapolis Urban League became distribution points.

In March, Tony Mason, president and CEO of the Urban League, heard the concerns of senior neighbors who lived near the nonprofit's headquarters on Indiana Avenue. At first he was hoping to connect the seniors directly to Gleaners or Second Helpings so that they could get the help they needed. But then the calls kept coming — this time from the general public.

"And so we said, 'You know what, let's just see what we can do,'" Mason said.

Now, every Tuesday since April, the Urban League hands out meals. Towards the beginning, it might take all day to hand out food for 500 families. Now it takes just 2-3 hours. On a recent Tuesday in December, cars were lined up by 8:30 a.m. — an hour and a half before the distribution typically starts.

Marion County need spikes

Elliott said it's hard to know how much of the need this year has gone unmet. But even prior to the pandemic, food security was on the rise. In early 2020, there were 181,810 food insecure people in Marion County, up from 144,260 in 2018 — a 26% increase.

Gleaners is the largest food bank in the state, serving 21 counties in central and eastern Indiana. Elliott said that Marion County, by far, has seen the greatest increase in need. In 2019, roughly 35% of the organization's food distribution was in Marion County. Since the pandemic began, it's been more like 60% to 65%, according to preliminary data.

The lines are undeniably longer. Take the distribution point at John Marshall High School on the east side. Gleaners had been giving out food at a smaller mobile site at a nearby church. Before the pandemic, they had been giving out food to 250 to 400 households per distribution.

The first Saturday at the high school gym, they ran out after 1,000 households. Gleaners kept increasing their supply, and kept running.

"Gleaners has been at this food distribution for 40 years. We typically have a good sense of how much food we need to take," Elliott said. "Rarely would we run out of food. Two or three times a year, we might run out of food."

But despite doubling the amount of food they've distributed during the pandemic, Gleaners has run out of food at more than 25% of their distributions.

Uncertainty for the future, need will continue

As the year was coming to a close, the immediate future for food banks was looking uncertain. Essential funds provided through the CARES Act were quickly running out. It was unclear if Congress would pass a second relief bill. 

A new relief bill was ultimately passed by Congress and signed by President Donald Trump. And the need for aid has certainly not let up. From October to November alone, Indiana's workforce shrank by more than 40,000. And while some of the jobs lost at the beginning of the year have been recovered, hundreds of thousands of Hoosiers are still unemployed.

For Hoosiers who want to help, Elliott said that monetary donations can help the food bank purchase food. And as the National Guard winds down its deployment at food banks throughout the state, volunteers are welcome.

Asked how he will know it's time to stop distributing food, Urban League's Mason said they will probably never stop, at least not for the foreseeable future.

"The reality of it is, is people need help," Mason said. "We have to step up and help each other."

For a list of local food banks, click here.

Emily Hopkins is a data reporter for IndyStar's investigative team. Reach them at 317-444-6409 or emily.hopkins@indystar.com.