Greetings to our Friends of the Hobart Food Pantry,

As Spring turns into Summer, I would like to thank all our community once again for your generous support of the Hobart Food Pantry. Without your support and donations, we would not be able to continue serving our families in need. For the Easter holiday, we were able to provide food packages for 180 families, which included a ham or turkey and other perishable and non-perishable items!

Up-coming events for the Hobart Food Pantry:
• 2nd Annual BINGO fundraiser – Saturday, June 6 at the Hobart Moose! Come out and enjoy a fun evening of yelling – BINGO!! Bring your friends, family and neighbors! In addition to 10 games of Bingo, food will be available, raffle baskets, door prizes and tip boards! Lots of prizes and always a good time, while supporting the Hobart Food Pantry and the Hobart Moose! The Moose has been very generous to the food pantry, as well as sponsoring charity bingo events for other community organizations!

• The Food Pantry will again participate in the US Postal Service nationwide food drive on Saturday, May 9, to help support local food pantries across the country. We are fortunate to have the Hobart Post Office participate and collect food items from across our community for this event, which always helps us to restock our shelves until our next food drive which will be held in the Fall……

• Saturday, September 19 is the Annual Hobart Kiwanis Food Drive to help support the Hobart Food pantry. This is our largest food drive of the year and helps to replenish our shelves with many items needed. If you are looking for a volunteer opportunity, please consider helping out on September 19! We need LOTS of volunteers that day, not only to sort and box up items received, but to drop off and pick up bags of food that are generously donated! Watch here for more information to be posted later!

In addition to these two larger food drives, we also want to recognize the many food drives that churches, organizations and businesses hold throughout the year, as well as the School City of Hobart and all their assistance with classroom food drives. We also receive many food donations from local businesses such as Strack and VanTil, Avalon Manor, Marilyn’s Bakery and Gordon’s Food Service, in addition to restaurants such as Long Horn and Red Lobster! Thank you so very much!

ATTENTION GARDNERS AND LOCAL FARMERS: If you should have a surplus of “garden goodies” this summer and you aren’t sure what to do with these extras, please consider donating to the Hobart Food Pantry. Our families always appreciate when we can provide them with fresh produce and vegetables!
We are now serving approximately 180 families on a weekly basis. We distribute to our families in need every week of the year, solely with volunteer labor. During the holidays, we serve 250+ families. Besides the non-perishable donations of food, it takes over $14,000 a month to keep the Pantry running smoothly. With the increase in food prices, our operating costs have increased dramatically over the past couple of years. With monetary donations we purchase the milk, eggs and meat, plus personal care items needed for our families. These are items not typically donated to us. With your kindness and donations, we can continue to serve those that need assistance.

We would like to thank you for your continued support. If you are not a donor, we are asking you to get involved by donating to the Hobart Food Pantry by volunteering or donating food (we are always in need!) or through a monetary donation. We have a PayPal link on our website (www.hobartfoodpantry.org) or you can mail a check to the Hobart Food Pantry, P.O. Box 394, Hobart, IN 46342. Any amount is appreciated!

Sincerely,
Cathy Jackson, Executive Director

Each year we are grateful and blessed to be the recipient of the fundraising conducted by the German Band, Inc.  The donation each year is given in memory of Nick Holzmer, a former volunteer of the Hobart Food Pantry, and a founding member of the German Band.  Members of the band know that the Hobart Food Pantry was near and dear to Nick's heart and have made it their mission to raise funds during the year that are then donated to the Hobart Food Pantry.  Each year a different volunteer for the food pantry accepts the donation in person wherever the German Band may be playing.  This year two of our volunteers and board members, Karen Robbins and Terry Butler, traveled to Moser's Austrian Cafe in New Carlisle, Indiana to accept the $15,000.00 check from the German Band members.  Thank you so much to the German Band for their generosity and continued support of the Hobart Food Pantry which will help us to continue our mission of helping families in Hobart! 

  
A HUGE THANK YOU to the NiSource Charitable Foundation for the $15,000.00 grant awarded to the Hobart Food Pantry, which helped us to provide a holiday food package to our families for both Thanksgiving and Christmas! Your generosity is very much appreciated.