Second Harvest Column: Sticks and Stones

By Lois Rockhill

Someone lobbed a rock from the railroad track, over the fence and hard enough to destroy a window in our Anderson facility. People with strangely configured minds do that sort of thing.

Usually it’s a vacant building that gets such treatment. And, for the record, 1417 Meridian St., Anderson, is not vacant. Second Harvest Food Bank is still there, still operating the warehouse, still bringing in tons of food. We continue to take food orders from 130 programs in eight counties, including, I’m sure, your favorite pantry. We unload semis at our docks, store inventory, load delivery trucks and make deliveries to food assistance programs throughout east central Indiana. All from our warehouse in downtown Anderson.

True, the broken window is in the section of the building that we vacated. In fact, it was my office window that got shattered — ouch. But still, the building isn’t empty and even if it were no one has the right to destroy someone else’s property.

We have enough on our plate without a rock through the window. We will take it in stride and board up the window. If the rock thrower wants to make it up to us, he/she can volunteer to help. We could use a strong-armed person or two with the work ahead.

Staff is covering two locations at once. The Anderson location continues daily operations of receiving and distributing food while the Delaware County location is open every day for volunteers and contractors working to get it ready for the big move. We’ve had lots of help and look forward to more.

The Delaware County United Way Day of Caring kicked off at our new place with a great turnout of volunteers who did a quick sort of storage bowls before going on to other work assignments. Those staying at our site painted, cleaned and back-filled dirt around the outside of the building. We have 80 Anderson University students coming in later in the month and a huge list of tasks for them to tackle.

Steel will be delivered this week. We are excited about that as these beams will form the frame for our freezer and cooler. Those units are the key to our move to Delaware County. Once they are up and running, we can move all of our food to its new home and begin operating there.

Sounds easy but the amount of planning and detail has been unbelievable. Every final product had to be stepped up to by multiple contacts, phone calls, e-mails, contracts, inspections and paper work. Telephone lines required AT&T digging a trench and laying line from the front of our expansive property, around the fence line and to the buildings. The freezer required electrician, concrete, fire protection and engineering contracts as well as equipment purchases and rentals. Anyone who has built a house or a business facility knows what I’m talking about.

Our staff deserves accolades for their tremendous work in maintaining operations and preparing for the move. Tim Kean and Joe Fox are stretching between both locations. Rick Goodpastor, Dan Terrell and Gary Benefiel are holding down operations in Anderson. Richard Galster, Tiffany Jones and Erin Rockhill are picking up the extra administrative load. And thank goodness for the volunteers who have stepped in to help. We could never get the work done without them.

My focus is raising money, and I have some strong community leadership help with that. You will be hearing more about our success as time goes on. I will let you in on one bit of good news. Senator. Richard Lugar reports that the earmark we have pending at the federal level was not only approved by the Senate Appropriations Committee, but passed by the entire Senate. It now goes on the House and if passed there must be signed by President Bush. We are certainly appreciative of all that Lugar has done to help secure this money. We look forward to celebrating with the whole region once it gets final approval. The appropriation will make a big difference in how quickly we can complete the purchase and renovation of our new facility in Delaware County.

So, along with the rocks that are thrown now and then, we are happy to report the goodness that comes our way through people who care about Second Harvest Food Bank and our work of ending hunger in east central Indiana. Hundreds of people are involved in this effort, there are many skill sets that are needed and offered. We are thankful to each person who is playing a role in our ongoing operation and in our relocation.

Lois Rockhill is executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana. She can be reached at lrockhill@curehunger.org.

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