Canned foods on grocery store shelves. Photo by Cami Koons, Iowa Capital Dispatch.

By Leslie Bonilla Muñiz
Indiana Capital Chronicle

INDIANAPOLIS — Indiana philanthropic organizations and an anonymous donor have pooled $1 million to launch a food aid fund, the United Way of Central Indiana announced Thursday, Oct. 30 – while federal grocery benefits for low-income Americans ran dry Saturday, Nov. 1 amid a government shutdown.

“Food is not a privilege; it’s a basic human right,” said Fred Payne, United Way of Central Indiana’s president and CEO. “United Way is proud to stand alongside its partners and other funders to respond to this critical need and help hard-working families put food on the table.”

More than 571,000 Hoosiers were receiving benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program as of September, according to the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration. SNAP households received an average of about $350 a month nationwide.

Approximately 150,000 SNAP recipients reside in central Indiana alone – Boone, Hamilton, Hancock, Hendricks, Marion, Morgan and Putnam counties – according a news release. About half of participants are in families with children.

Beginning next week, the new Central Indiana Food Relief Fund will distribute the money to groups that supply food to hundreds of pantries across the region and state: Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Midwest Food Bank of Indiana and Second Helpings.

The fund was launched with a $500,000 donation from an anonymous donor, which was intended to encourage the community to match or exceed that amount, according to the release.

The Indianapolis Foundation, Lilly Endowment and the Lilly Foundation contributed, quickly meeting that match.

Indiana residents are also encourage to donate to the fund directly – United Way will manage the account, but 100% of gifts will be distributed – or to the three food organizations.

“Philanthropy alone cannot fill this gap,” Payne said. “But we are calling on our community right now to join us, support our food banks and help our neighbors in need.”

Those in need of food assistance can use Indy Hunger Network’s Community Compass to find free food and groceries near them, along with other resources.

Following orders from two federal judges in Rhode Island and Boston, the Trump Administration announced Monday, Nov. 3 that it will allot partial payments to the SNAP program, though when the payments will arrive is not yet clear. States will have to reprogram their systems to account for the reduced payments, which may delay the decades-old and varied state infrastructure from paying out by weeks – or even months.

USDA officials said providing the full payments, while quicker, would take money from the Child Nutrition Program, which provides meals to low-income children at school. That fund currently holds almost $17 billion.

The payments will tap into SNAP’s contingency fund. $4.65 billion will go towards the payments, while $600 million will go to nutrition assistance and administrative expenses for American Samoa and Puerto Rico.