2019 Highlights

Leo Carnicelli

Second Helpings volunteer Leo Carnicelli accepts his award for Outstanding Youth Achievement.

With more than 20,000 meals prepared and delivered through Monday and Friday each week, a LOT happens every day at Second Helpings. As the year draws to a close, we wanted to take a moment to reflect on the milestones, partnerships and stories that defined 2019 before we venture off into another year fighting hunger and poverty in Central Indiana. Thank you to the volunteers and donors who made all of these moments possible. We look forward to accomplishing even more with you in 2020.

Growth in Hunger Relief

Second Helpings saw an 11% increase in meals prepared and delivered this year. As of December 19, volunteers had prepared and delivered 1,138,589 meals to more than 90 other partner agencies. These meals were fueled by our incredible food donors. As of December 16, Food Rescue staff and volunteers had rescued 2,361,869 pounds of food this year! This growth is only possible thanks to the dedication of more than 800 active volunteers. Volunteers really stepped up this year, with the addition of a Tuesday evening volunteer shift. They committed more hours than any year in our 21+ years of service to make this increase possible. Thank you! 

Outstanding Youth Achievement: Leo Carnicelli

In November, longtime Second Helpings volunteer Leo Carnicelli earned a recognition from the Indiana Chapter of the Association of Fundraising Professionals for his incredible service and commitment to the Second Helpings mission. Philanthropic leaders from around the state joined Leo for a special luncheon at the Indiana Roof Ballroom. Since August of 2016, while a student with Arsenal Tech, Leo has dedicated nearly 800 hours to the effort to #FeedIndy. As a pre-med student at Hanover College, we don’t see Leo as often as we used to. But he returns to the Hunger Relief kitchen whenever he has a break from class. We are so grateful for Leo’s commitment to #FeedIndy, and we know that service will always be a huge part of Leo’s life. It was a treat to see him celebrated on stage at the Indiana Philanthropy Awards, and a moment we will cherish for years to come.

900 Culinary Job Training graduates

With the graduation of Culinary Job Training class 126 earlier this month, Second Helpings celebrated 900 people to complete this program. The program has changed a lot in recent years, condensing the rigorous curriculum from 10 weeks to seven weeks and hiring a second instructor, we now graduate a new class every month – effectively doubling the capacity of this program. These days, Second Helpings graduates are earning an average initial hiring rate of $11.70 per hour. This represents a 28% increase in earning power over what these students would have made without the program, based on data from the Indiana Department of Workforce Development.

Ice Cream Social

We strive to offer many ways for this community to support the effort to #FeedIndy: special events, volunteer opportunities, food drives, and so much more. While we pride ourselves on creating new ways to engage with this organization, eating delicious ice cream must be one of the more enjoyable ways to fight hunger and poverty in Central Indiana. Thanks to our friends at American Dairy Association Indiana Inc., hundreds of people did just that at the organization’s 30th annual Ice Cream Social. Even the record-breaking heat on a mid-July day couldn’t deter the crowds on Monument Circle. We can’t wait to do it all again next summer, as Second Helpings will once again serve as the nonprofit beneficiary during the 31st annual Ice Cream Social. We hope you will join us!

New Partner Agencies

The meals increase highlighted above is only possible thanks to our incredible partner agencies. We rely on those partners to get the high-quality meals prepared by our volunteers to the hungry Hoosiers who need them most. Below, take a look at the new agencies who helped make this growth possible. Please click on the links below to learn more about the work that these organizations do in Central Indiana. In all, Second Helpings services represent more than $5.5 million in food cost savings across Central Indiana.

Concord Neighborhood Center

Staff from new partner agency Concord Neighborhood Center was all smiles when we delivered their first meal in early December.

New Website

If you have found this blog post, we would like to formally welcome you to the new Second Helpings website. In early September, we launched a website overhaul for the first time in more than a decade – several lifetimes in the web design world. The new site was possible thanks to a 2017 gift from the Lilly Endowment. While we are thrilled with the design created by our friends at Exceedion, we welcome any and all feedback you may have to offer. Is there information we could make easier to find? Is there something that could be more intuitive? Please let us know in the comments below this post, or feel free to send a note to our Communications & Marketing Manager Rob Peon, who maintains the content on the site: rob@secondhelpings.org.

Thank you!

Thanks for being a part of these great accomplishments in 2019. Imagine what 2020 holds. You still have (a few) days left for a tax-deductible gift in 2019. Your support ensures more lives will be transformed through the power of food in the year ahead.

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