Monday afternoons are busy at Westminster Family & Adult Services on Indianapolis’ near eastside. That is when the community center opens its doors, offering access to its food pantry and hot meals provided by Second Helpings.
Staff and volunteers bustle to ensure fresh fruits and salads are ready along with the hot, nutritious entrees. When food service starts promptly at 4 p.m., there is already a line of men, women and children in the dining room. However, the line moves quickly as the friendly staff and volunteers fill plates swiftly and hand them to clients.
At the same time, staff members in the food pantry assist people with bags of food to take home for later.
“Meal service here has grown quite a bit, and that’s mostly from word-of-mouth. When one person comes for the food pantry or hot meals, they come back next time with a friend or neighbor,” says Christina Peterson, executive director at the community service center.
“Our clients enjoy the meals. We’ve noticed they love baked chicken, especially with a little hot sauce. So we make sure that’s always on hand,” said Lindsey Welch, pantry services director at Westminster.
Most of the people who come to eat have jobs but do not always make enough money to make ends meet and feed their families.
On Thursday mornings, Westminster’s doors open again for service. The day starts with coffee and pastries for neighbors who often walk a few blocks to be there when the doors open. Then later on, about 10 a.m., lunch is served.
Each week, Westminster welcomes about 260 people to gather and eat.
Westminster Family & Adult Services does even more, too. There is a closet offering free clothes and a health clinic. All these programs provide vital resources to residents, enabling them to feed and clothe their families, access health care and receive a hot meal and caring support.