As we approach the end of another year, we’re looking back on some of our top stories that defined 2024 at Second Helpings. It was a year of growth across all of our programs, thanks to our community of support.
Food Rescue and Transportation Director Jon Meinert announcing our 50 millionth rescued pound
Food Rescue
Our Food Rescue team kicked off the year by rescuing food from the NBA All-Star Game weekend.
In May, we celebrated an incredible milestone: we rescued our 50 millionth pound of food! Read the full announcement here.
Want to support our Food Rescue efforts in 2025?
Sign up to be a volunteer driver and help us rescue more food from donors across central Indiana! Shifts are available Monday-Friday, morning and afternoon.
You can sign up for these opportunities after creating your profile in our volunteer system.
Our 20 millionth meal was delivered to Fathers & Families Center.
Hunger Relief
In August we celebrated another incredible milestone: delivering our 20 millionth meal! You can read that announcement here. The 20 millionth meal was delivered to Fathers and Families Center, where we deliver 500 meals every week.
Some of our favorite stories are with our partner organizations, to see where our meals go, and how they support our partners’ missions.
Learn how our meals make an impact for Ruth Lilly Women and Children’s Center, whose kitchen is run by Chef Lou Perkins, graduate of Culinary Job Training Class 71.
Culinary Job Training Class 164 graduated in November.
Culinary Job Training
It was a busy year for our Culinary Job Training program. Since January, 39 adults graduated from this program, and Class 165 will graduate at the end of January!
Our CJT team was out in the community this year, at events and field trips to employment opportunities for our students and graduates.
We also shared a story about Tiara Shelton, graduate of Class 150, and the continuing education she has pursued since the CJT program. Since publishing this story, Tiara has returned to Second Helpings and now works in our Hunger Relief program as a Kitchen Coordinator!
This year of growth was not possible without our community of supporters. But we don’t see that growth slowing down any time soon, as both requests for meals and interest in our Culinary Job Training program continue to rise.
We can’t meet these community needs without your support. Will you make a gift to fight hunger and create opportunities today?
You can make a gift of time by signing up to volunteer, and you can make a financial contribution with an online donation.