Monroe Central Students Help Second Harvest

Last Wednesday, a group of juniors from Monroe Central Schools spent the day helping out at the Second Harvest facility in Muncie. Throughout the semester, Monroe Central students in grades seven through 12 have been helping out at the food bank. The group on Wednesday packaged more than 7,200 pounds of tomatoes for the organization to distribute. Over the semester, the students have helped the organization to process over 40,000 pounds of food for distribution. Second Harvest considers one meal to be equivalent to 1.2 pounds of food, so that is a lot of meals that the students have helped to provide for Second Harvest. 

Monroe Central students also did quite a bit of the work creating a garden at the facility where potatoes, strawberries and other produce will be grown. This garden will allow Second Harvest to have fresher produce to provide.

A non-profit organization funded by philanthropic and community support, Second Harvest is devoted to feeding the hungry, advocating for those facing food insecurity and providing nutrition education. Through these programs they hope to teach their clients how they came to be in their current situation and help them learn how to get out of it. Second Harvest is also a member of Feeding America, the largest domestic hunger-relief organization in the United States. Being a member allows Second Harvest to access donated products, professional resources and a network of other organizations across the country. Feeding America is a nationwide network of 200 food banks and 60,000 food pantries and meal programs that provides food and services to more than 46 million people each year.

Several local food pantries rely on help from Second Harvest to help them keep certain items in stock. With only a few paid employees, Second Harvest relies primarily on volunteers, such as the Monroe Central students to help.