How to get involved in Lend-A-Hand Day:
- Drop off food items in the barrels located across campus before April 8
- Donate money by going to the SVS office located in L.A. Pittenger Student Center, room 133
- To get involved in the sorting and delivery April 10, sign up on SVS's database
- Talk to about food insecurity and the need the community has to help spread awareness
If you can not participate in Lend-A-Hand Day, make a difference by volunteering at SVS and Muncie Mission Ministers.
Food insecurity exists when people lack sustainable physical or economic access to enough safe, nutritious and socially acceptable food for a healthy and productive life, according to Feeding America. Food insecurity may be chronic, seasonal or temporary.
With Muncie’s population of 70,085 people, there will be 20,540 people going hungry every day, according to Second Harvest Food Bank. Within Delaware County, 17.5 percent of people are impoverished.
To help fight the rate of those going hungry within the community, SVS has set up numerous barrels to act as drop-off sites. They will be around residence halls and dining halls across campus for students to donate nonperishable food items, including canned and dry goods, soups and miscellaneous items like vegetable oil.
Barrels will stay out until April 8 in preparation for Lend-A-Hand Day, which will take place April 10 in the Office of Student Life in the L.A. Pittenger Student Center Room 133, where volunteers will sort through food donations and then deliver them to Muncie Mission and Cardinal Kitchen. Ball State's food pantry.
Lend-A-Hand Day was founded 26 years ago, but this is the first year SVS is exclusively focusing on food, said Rachel Johnson, SVS president.
Johnson said while it may be hard for some to understand, food insecurity and the stress that comes with figuring out where someone's next meal could come from is a serious issue.
“Until you experience food insecurity or come in contact with someone who is struggling, it's really hard to wrap your head around what that means,” Johnson said. “It’s a very hopeless feeling to not know where your next meal is coming from. You don’t know when it is going to happen next.”
Johnson has experienced food insecurity herself in the past, and turned to Cardinal Kitchen for support.
“I have personally had to take advantage of the Cardinal Kitchen myself,” Johnson said. “I had one of those months where I just paid my tuition for the semester, my car broke down and I had to pay rent. And after all of that, I still had to eat.”
By contributing to Lend-A-Hand Day, students are able to fulfill the duty they have in helping their community in need, Johnson said.
“Ball State’s student population makes up one-third of the Muncie population,” Johnson said. “That is such a huge thing and for students to be able to use that extra bit of the meal swipe and donate .... It might not seem like such a big deal, but to others in need, that can make a huge difference.”
Cardinal Kitchen is open the last three Tuesdays of every month from 5 to 8 p.m. and is available to all undergraduate and graduate students to use.
“Food insecurity is a real issue within the Muncie community and also here at Ball State which some people might not even realize,” said Madison Lyon, Cardinal Kitchen executive director. “This past year, we have had over 1,000 visits with around 20 to 70 students a day.”
Muncie Mission Ministries is a faith-based agency that has worked with the homeless and needy of Delaware County for more than 80 years, according to their website. Muncie Missions services multiple programs to the community. One of the biggest is a free lunch given each weekday at 12:30 p.m. to anyone who needs it.
“This past year, the Muncie Mission prepared and served over 85,400 meals,” said Jessie Dudley, Muncie Mission Ministries Volunteer Coordinator. “We also were able to provide families with over 50,000 food items.”
Without donations, both food pantries would not be able to serve the community effectively.
“We rely 100 percent on donations and the income from our stores. Our stores provide 47 percent, but the rest is through donors,” Dudley said. “We are not government funded, so we couldn’t run without the funds that people give us. Without them, we wouldn’t be able to actually help out the community and provide meals to those who are struggling.”
SVS’s overall goal is raise $2,000 and collect 2,000 items for both organizations.
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