Less Waste. Less Hunger.
More Opportunities.

On behalf of the Board of Directors and staff, I am proud to share with you Second Helpings’ 2023-2024 Community Impact Report!

In their 2023 Hunger Study, Indy Hunger Network found that “hunger was at its highest level in the last decade.”

We feel that growth in our Hunger Relief kitchen, where we broke a monthly record for meal production in 11 of 12 months in this fiscal year. We delivered 120,000 more meals than we did last year, a 9% increase in our production.

Your support made it possible for us to meet that growing need.

Thanks to you, we planted more seeds to cultivate future culinary success in our community. This year, 43 students graduated from our free Culinary Job Training program – that’s a 47% increase from the year before.

Your gifts also drove our Food Rescue program through a year of growth. Our team saved 3,740,422 pounds of food from going to waste – that’s 300,000 more pounds than we rescued last year. We celebrated rescuing our 50 millionth pound this year, acknowledging the significant impact our work has on the local environment.

This year of growth would not have been possible without a community of generous volunteers and donors like you. With your help, we can keep growing to address hunger today and build self-sufficiency to prevent hunger tomorrow. Thank you.

Our fleet covered 106,500 miles across six counties: Marion, Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, and Johnson. Upon returning to our facility, rescued food is either distributed to community partners or used to prepare meals for delivery to those partners.

Our meals save local nonprofits a lot of time, resources, and money. Last year, we prepared and delivered nearly 1.3 million meals and redistributed 2.4 million pounds of bulk food. We saved our partners over $15 million in food costs, allowing them to focus on their core missions.

Our program is available to unemployed and underemployed adults in central Indiana. In just 7 weeks, students learn the skills they need to succeed in the culinary industry.