While promotions for the upcoming NBA All-Star Game are dominating the city this month, Second Helpings has been involved in the planning for this event for more than a year.

Nora Spitznogle, our Senior Director of Programs, serves on the event’s Host and Sustainability Committees, helping to connect the NBA and national partners with local efforts to make the whole weekend of events run smoothly and sustainably.

Nora Spitznogle, our Senior Director of Programs, serves on the event’s Host and Sustainability Committees, helping to connect the NBA and national partners with local efforts to make the whole weekend of events run smoothly and sustainably.

The Sustainability Committee is focused on ways to minimize the impact of the event on the local environment, from reducing litter, increasing composting and recycling efforts, turning waste to energy wherever possible, and advising event venues and other committees on how to make their efforts more sustainable.

Our role in the planning: we’ll be rescuing all the food available after the event’s festivities.

“In many of the planning conversations, we’ve been able to calm concerns from national representatives,” explains Jon Meinert, our Director of Food Rescue and Transportation. In cities without a food rescue organization, this piece can be a logistical challenge to navigate. In Indianapolis, that solution is simple – call Second Helpings.

The venues we’ll be rescuing from – Gainbridge Fieldhouse, Lucas Oil Stadium, the Convention Center, downtown hotels and restaurants – are all existing partners, so we really can approach it as “business as usual.”

Second Helpings was selected as the food rescue partner for this event because we are the only organization in town who can efficiently rescue and use prepared food – excess pans of catered food, boxed lunches, etc.

This opportunity provides a huge benefit to our operations. “Prepared food is so valuable to our Hunger Relief team because we can turn it around and deliver to partner agencies so quickly,” Meinert explains.

“Showing up in this way is a no-brainer,” Meinert said. “We know we can handle it – this is what we do every day. This partnership also lets the whole city know we’re here, and we’re up for the challenge!”

While there’s no way to accurately predict how much food will be available to rescue, the last event of a similar scale in Indianapolis, the NCAA College Football National Championship game in January 2022 brought in more than 33,000 pounds to Second Helpings.

Of course, in 2012, when Indianapolis hosted Super Bowl XLVI, the food rescue opportunities were even more elaborate, and helped build the infrastructure and partnerships still in place today between downtown venues and organizations like Second Helpings.

While the food is what our team is looking forward to the most, the NBA All-Star Game provides all kinds of opportunities to join the excitement, even without a ticket.

“I love it when Indy hosts big events,” Meinert said. “There’s such a great atmosphere all around town and so many fun opportunities. Plus, it’s a great chance to showcase our city on a big stage.”

“Hoosier hospitality is real,” Spitznogle agreed. “There is such an enthusiasm for both basketball and celebrating our city here, and we want everyone to have a great experience when they come to visit!”

You can find a list of All-Star Game events here. Pro tip from Nora: as part of the festivities, both IndyGo buses and Pacers BikeShare will be free that weekend.

Stay tuned as the whole city prepares to host the NBA All-Star Game in a few short weeks. We look forward to sharing next month what we’re able to rescue and deliver to our partners across central Indiana.