Foodbank Capital Campaign
(Download our brochure here | See our case study | View our video)
Our History
Catholic Charities in Terre Haute was established as a ministry
of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis in 1973. The primary mission
of the agency is to serve the poor, the homeless, the elderly, the
neglected children and the needy.
Community Involvement
For more than 40 years, Catholic Charities in Terre Haute has touched
the lives of hundreds of thousands of people in the Wabash Valley.
By 1980, Catholic Charities had established several Programs and
Services including:
- Christmas House – Provides assistance with Christmas gifts & household items
- Bethany House Emergency Shelter – Offers emergency
shelter, soup kitchen and clothes closet
- Simeon House (former congregate living facility)
- Ryves Youth Center – Houses a pre-school, provides afterschool
programming, operates a latch-key program, and offers a weekly backpack program.
- Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank – Serves the food
insecure population in Clay, Greene, Knox, Parke, Sullivan,
Vermillion and Vigo counties through a network of 89 emergency
food distribution member agencies and 11 mobile pantries.
Feeding the Poor
Feeding the poor has always been a priority of this ministry. That’s why in
1980 the Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank was established by John E.
Etling and Rev. Donald Schmidlin as part of the national food bank network,
Feeding America (formerly America’s Second Harvest) serving both individuals
and organizations regardless of religious affiliation.
The Foodbank’s mission is simple: to feed the hungry.
The Foodbank serves those in Clay, Greene, Knox, Parke, Sullivan, Vermillion,
and Vigo counties through a network of emergency food distribution member
agencies and engages the region in the fight to end hunger.
One in six Hoosiers, including one in four children, more than 43,000 people, living in west central Indiana are food
insecure – meaning they have limited or uncertain access to sufficient nutritious and safe food in a socially acceptable manner.
Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank serves more than 32,000 of those individuals through a network of 89 member agencies
and 11 mobile pantries. Last year alone, the Foodbank solicited, certified and collected, monitored and channeled 2.6 million
pounds of food (the equivalent of 2 million meals) to these charitable member agencies who are feeding hungry people.
Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank serves over 32,000 of the
43,000 people who are food insecure in west central Indiana.
- The Foodbank is the single largest source of food for emergency food programs in the
seven-county service area
- Hunger in America 2010 reports that on average, the Foodbank provides:
- 51% of the food distributed by local pantries
- 36% of the food distributed by local kitchens
- 38% of the food distributed by local shelters
- The Foodbank partners with local community groups and faith-based organizations to
operate 11 mobile pantries each month providing food to approximately 1100 families
living in rural, underserved areas.
- The Foodbank operates a monthly Bread & Produce Market providing highly perishable
bread and produce directly to approximately 100 families each month.
- Last year, the Foodbank grew the BackPack program from the Ryves Youth Center location
to include distributions at schools in Parke, Vermillion, and Sullivan counties.
Through this program, children receive a bag of child-friendly food on Friday afternoons
to help feed them through the weekend.
Our Distinctions:
- The Foodbank is the single largest source of emergency food
programs in the seven-county service area.
- Hunger in America 2010 reported that the Foodbank provided
in the seven-county area:
- 51% of the food distributed by local pantries
- 36% of the food distributed by local kitchens
- 38% of the food distributed by local shelters
- In 2010, the Foodbank distributed a record 2.6 million
pounds of food
- In fiscal year 2011, 509 children were provided weekend food carried home in 4,419 backpacks
- Over 1,100 rural families were fed through 11 mobile pantries
About the Campaign
Simply stated, the extended downturn in
our economy has put stress on individuals and
families. An increased number of people have
faced a loss of jobs, foreclosure and more.
Increasing Demand
As reported in Hunger in America 2010, 78% of food
pantries served by Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank
experienced an increase in the number of clients
since 2006. In addition, food pantries, soup kitchens, and
shelters in our service area reported that they were in
greatest need of dairy products such as milk, yogurt, and
cheese, as well as proteins like meat, poultry, fish, and
eggs. These perishable products are expensive for the
agencies to purchase and because of quality and safety
issues they cannot be obtained through food drives.
To meet this demand, the Foodbank significantly increased
(39%) the amount of food distributed, including
perishable products, from 1,276,971 pounds in 2006 to
nearly 1.8 million pounds in 2009. But, the need is even
greater - 45% of the pantries reported having to turn away
clients because of a lack of food. Even more of a concern
is the fact that 45% of the recipients of food are children
under the age of 18 and seniors age 65 and over.
Closing the Meal Gap
To address these critical issues, the Foodbank directors and the Advisory Council developed a strategic plan with the long-term goals of significantly increasing
food distribution by an additional 615,000 to 1 million meals per year (the equivalent of an additional 800,000 to 1.3 million pounds per year).
Warehousing and distributing 2.6 million pounds of food in 2010 put a tremendous strain on the limited capacity at the current location triggering
logistical problems throughout the distribution channel as we quickly disbursed this food to member agencies. The Foodbank must expand its current
warehouse and refrigeration capacities to achieve our goal of lessening the meal gap within our service area.
Campaign Projects
Catholic Charities will expand the Foodbank to respond to the gap in meals that exists in our service area by addressing
the lack of facility capacity at 1356 Locust Street in Terre Haute. Because the current facility is landlocked, it will not
accommodate adequate expansion. Therefore, Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank must either build a new facility or
purchase a current facility that will meet the required specifications for growth. After concluding a planning process and
significant study on multiple options, the Catholic Charities Advisory Council has settled on the following solution:
- Immediate Basic Needs – $1,500,000
- This amount will cover the purchase of a logistics facility
and provide 30,000 square ft. of warehouse and
office space … more than tripling the current capacity
of the Foodbank. The total also will include the expense
to add the necessary refrigeration capacity designed to
meet the storage and throughput of perishable foods.
- Visionary Needs – $1,000,000
- While the facility is in excellent condition, these endowment funds will
create an annual yield to help cover additional maintenance
expenses that will be necessary to sustain the operations in
the new facility
- Total Campaign Needs – $2,500,000
- To date, we have received $1,757,000 towards our total goal of $2,500,000
*In addition to the Basic and Visionary Needs, we will need to raise an additional $200,000 per year for each of the next 5 years for
Ongoing Program Support.
Community Needs
- As reported in Hunger in America 2010, 78% of food pantries
served by Terre Haute Catholic Charities Foodbank experienced
an increase in the number of clients since 2006.
- Despite the fact that our Foodbank significantly increased
(39%) the amount of food it distributed in 2009 compared to
2006 (nearly 1.8 million lbs. in 2009 versus 1.3 million lbs.
in 2006), 45% of the pantries reported having to turn away
clients because of a lack of food.
- 45% of the recipients of emergency food are society’s most
vulnerable – children under the age of 18 and seniors age 65
and over.
- Map the Meal Gap projects that there are 43,400 people in the
seven-county service area that are food insecure – a need of
7,250,933 meals. The Foodbank provided 2,000,000 meals in
2010 – leaving a gap that exceeds 5 million meals.
The purchase of a larger facility will provide much-needed additional storage
space enabling us to close the Meal Gap by:
- Providing more children with food each week through the BackPack program
- Reach more food insecure people with the Mobile Food Pantry
- Participating in larger purchasing programs
- Expanding delivery service to pantries
Through your compassion and generosity, the Foodbank will be able to collect,
sort, store, and channel enough food to serve the additional 11,000 people who are
currently food insecure; as well as provide hope of a better academic future for
children to succeed in school as a result of receiving adequate nutritional food.
Your gift will provide help and create hope in the lives of countless neighbors
in our community – and will enable us to reach more individuals and families
with our mission to feed the hungry.
Campaign Objectives
We will immediately be able to increase our food distribution
capacity by an additional 615,000 to 1 million meals
per year and feed more people who are food insecure in the
service area.
As research indicates, more children will have the opportunity
to perform better and succeed in school because they are
receiving adequate nutritional food.
The expanded facility will allow the Foodbank to participate in
larger purchasing programs that will accommodate its capacity
to further mitigate food insecurity in the region.
- Cash – lump sum or pledge over 5 years
- Appreciated assets – stocks, bonds, real estate
- Personal property
- Corporate matching gifts
- Life income arrangements – charitable gift annuities, charitable remainder trusts
