Photos courtesy Second Helpings
TAKING A three-pronged approach to addressing food insecurity in Central Indiana, Second Helpings first relies on donations of food that would otherwise go in the trash. (Last year, Second Helpings rescued 3.7 million pounds of food.) The second component is an on-site training program that teaches aspiring chefs to transform raw ingredients into tempting meals that are then sent to more than 100 local organizations focused on feeding the hungry. The third priority is providing healthy, filling meals through the work of a small paid staff and countless volunteers.
“We address hunger today and address self-sufficiency to prevent hunger tomorrow,” says Linda Broadfoot, Second Helpings’ CEO.
Three local chefs founded Second Helpings in 1998 out of unhappiness with the amount of food being wasted in the service industry while nearby neighbors were going hungry. They also saw a growing need for trained culinary employees and job training to sustain the restaurant industry. Second Helpings was born to address these concerns.
Based at The Eugene and Marilyn Glick Center southeast of downtown Indy, the organization receives food donations from wholesalers, retailers, restaurants, and caterers, Broadfoot says. They can even accept food that has already been prepared, as long as it hasn’t been taken to the front of the house. For instance, Chick-Fil-A sometimes donates leftover chicken fingers at the end of a day.
Staff chefs and students are then tasked with creating proper meals. But this is more than heating up a donation of ground beef and noodles. The culinary crew can exercise some creative license in their work. For instance, they make their own jams, sauces, and mayonnaise to enhance the prepared lunches they provide. A shipment of peaches turns into delectable peach jelly, a perfect combination for a peanut butter and jelly sandwich. The training program, a free 7-week course that prepares individuals for service industry employment, incorporates this ingenuity into the curriculum.
Vital to the operations of Second Helpings, volunteers outnumber staff at a rate of four to one, Broadfoot says, and there’s always room for more. “We couldn’t do anything without volunteers,” she says. “I’ve never seen a volunteer corps as engaged as they are here.”
A 5-acre parcel of land that once served as a staging lot for construction vehicles has blossomed into a thriving organic farm focused on raising produce for the food insecure in Central Indiana. Indy Urban Acres was founded near East 21st Street and Shadeland Avenue in 2018 as a partnership between Gleaners Food Bank, IU Health, Indy Parks and Recreation, and what was then known as the Parks Foundation, now the Parks Alliance. The organic farm focuses on growing food that is then distributed to local businesses and organizations dedicated to feeding the hungry.
Photos courtesy Second Helpings, Chef Borel’s Meals, The Parks Alliance of Indianapolis.
“If you can grow it in Indiana, we’re probably growing it on the farm,” says Tyler Gough, director of Indy Urban Acres. “But we are really trying to cater to our customers. We want to see what people want as a food pantry and go from there. Like every other farm, we’re growing what our customers want. Our customers just happen to be a food pantry.”
Indy Urban Acres does not rely on municipal funds. Instead, it was initiated and is run by the Parks Alliance, a nonprofit arm of Indy Parks and Recreation. The group distributes about 50,000 pounds of food a year, sending it to organizations that prepare and serve it or that disseminate fresh produce to families who might otherwise have a difficult time finding such items.
With a staff of five full-time employees, Indy Urban Acres relies heavily on volunteers to get their hands dirty, helping to plant, pull weeds, and harvest throughout the growing season. The Parks Alliance works to arrange corporate volunteer days for groups, says David O’Rourke, Parks Alliance vice president of collaboration and marketing. A spring plant sale and a fall “Farmraiser” dinner help pay the other bills.
“The importance of healthy food cannot be understated,” Gough says. “I always say one of the biggest ways you can help us is by talking about what we do. Hunger is a solvable issue if we in the community can rally around it.”
A passion for people inspired Theresa Borel to take her culinary business a step further. Borel, the namesake behind Chef Borel’s Meals, provides food to seniors and other local clients in need, aiding their physical and emotional health with each visit.
Chef Borel’s Kitchen on Indy’s west side already provides prepackaged meals, catering, and carryout to its paying customers. But Borel, who has worked as a daytime manager at senior living facilities and as a Meals on Wheels volunteer, wanted to combine her business with her heart. Borel reached out to Medicaid a few years ago to ask if she could help prepare meals for underserved seniors. “Instantly they said yes, because we’re in a food desert,” Borel recalls. “They were sending me clients almost immediately.”
Through Chef Borel’s Meals, she has about a dozen weekly clients who receive prepared meals that can be frozen and eaten later. Borel personally delivers the meals and stays in touch with Medicaid to let the agency know how the clients are faring and whether they are facing any additional challenges. She even tackles making phone calls for clients who have trouble getting approval for the meal plan.
But the program goes beyond Medicaid clients, offering meals to people who might not otherwise be able to afford food. A sign on the Chef Borel’s Kitchen pickup window encourages customers to donate a little extra money, which goes into providing free meals to people who need them. “I’ll take whatever they can give,” Borel says. “I’ll put that money towards the meals. I even have snacks for the homeless people who are walking by.”
The meal program is currently a one-woman operation, with Borel serving as chief cook, bottle washer, and delivery woman. But she wants to make room for more. “My vision is to have more vehicles to deliver meals,” Borel says. “When I’m no longer here, I want this to continue feeding my senior citizens and people with disabilities.”
Flanner House, northwest of downtown Indy, has a rich history in the city. The organization’s story begins in 1898, with the first settlement house established for Black residents migrating from the South. Known then as Flanner Guild, the agency has evolved and flourished, serving to support, advocate for, and empower residents by providing resources that help them become self-sufficient and stable.
“Flanner House is proud of our long legacy of providing vital resources. But we realize that the material conditions faced by our community members haven’t changed much over the past 126 years,” says Nick Selm, minister of agriculture and director of the F.E.E.D. Program at Flanner House. “Decades of greedy, shortsighted, and outright racist policies—from all levels of government—have burdened communities like ours with a lack of affordable housing, lack of access to nutritious foods, lack of access to health care, systemic racism, income inequality, environmental degradation, police brutality, and neglected infrastructure.”
In addition to offering a child development center, senior program, bookstore, cafe, grocery, and other services, Flanner House focuses on food justice. It’s an especially challenging issue for residents who live in food deserts, neighborhoods where affordable, healthy food options are restricted or nonexistent.
The Flanner House F.E.E.D. (Farming, Education, Employment, and Distribution) Program works with young people between the ages of 16 and 24. Some participants work on Flanner Farms, a 2-acre farm with nearby, off-site greenhouses that offers healthy, affordable, culturally appropriate produce for the community through Cleo’s Bodega Grocery & Cafe, located adjacent to Flanner House. Participants can also work in the commercial kitchen or within the food distribution sector, obtaining valuable experience and a deeper appreciation of the journey food takes from the farm to the table.
Each year, Flanner House’s staff grows, but volunteers still play an important role helping with larger projects in and around the facilities, Selm says.
“While Flanner House leadership is constantly looking for ways to expand our services, the most important job we have is maintaining the stability of programs already in place,” Selm says. “Between the childcare and enrichment provided at our Child Development Center, the community food accessibility of our Food Justice Program, and the vital resources of the Center for Working Families, Flanner House is proud to be a reliable resource for our community members.”
