St. Louis de Montfort’s Sally Burton Food Pantry meets the needs of its neighbors in more ways than one. The food pantry first opened in 2003 off 116th Street and Hague Road in Fishers, Ind. However, its services go well beyond its suburban borders.
“We have always served the Fishers community and southern Hamilton County, but we also see a lot of clients from northern Marion County,” said Jamie Anderson, Coordinator of Stewardship & Outreach at St. Louis de Montfort. “When you look for other food pantries in the area, you find several in northern Hamilton County and some mid-size ones in the Lawrence and Nora neighborhoods in Indianapolis. In between those areas, though, it’s really just us, so we serve people from Fishers, Castleton, Lawrence, McCordsville, and more.”
Coming from so many different neighborhoods, St. Louis de Montfort’s clients represent a wide range of families and individuals.
“A lot of immigrants from South America and the Middle East are making their homes here. They don’t have a ton of resources right away, so we work to provide those,” said Anderson. “We really try to make it a welcoming environment. These clients are people first, this is a safe place to come, and we are here to serve.”
Anderson shared that it is mostly families come into the food pantry, roughly one-third of which have six or more members. Nearly three-quarters of all visitors speak Spanish as their first language, and St. Louis de Montfort has a Spanish interpreter at every shift the pantry is open.
St. Louis de Montfort receives food donations from a number of sources, but a majority of those are shelf-stable items. According to Anderson, the Meijer Simply Give hunger relief program has changed how they are able to provide fresh fruits and vegetables.
“It’s amazing to see how excited people get every time we have fresh produce – something many of us take for granted. I cannot tell you how excited people get about onions! They change the flavors of a dish. Tomatoes, too,” Anderson shares. “I love seeing kids pick out a banana and just sit and enjoy it as a snack. Choosing a fruit they really love is exciting because we know how much that can impact their learning in addition to filling their bellies. Any time we have milk, eggs, or other high-protein items for families with kids, we know they will be able to think better, learn better, and have more energy and better patience, all because nutritious foods play a role in their development.”
It’s not just children who benefit from fresh fruits and vegetables though. The more fresh foods St. Louis de Montfort Food Pantry provides, the better it meet its clients’ differing needs, whether for health reasons, cultural or ethnic reasons, or even based on individual preferences.
“I would love to be in a position where people can come in and shop almost all fresh items instead of the majority being shelf stable,” said Anderson. “Meijer enables us to really see what we can do right now and how we can look to the future and grow from here.”
St. Louis de Montfort provides more than just food, from hygiene products such as feminine hygiene, detergent, soap, and cleaning supplies to baby supplies like diapers and wipes. This is critical as feminine hygiene products and diapers are not covered by Indiana’s WIC program.
“We prioritize the dignity of everyone who comes in, and providing these items helps give guests the essentials they need that may not be available to them in other ways,” said Anderson. “What I love about using the Meijer Simply Give program is our parishioners really capitalize on Double Match Days, and we then use these gift cards to stock fresh produce and non-food items.”
Today, St. Louis de Montfort is looking for ways it can expand the food pantry. Its current space is not large enough for the number of families who come in to shop in addition to storage space, and the need for its services continues to grow.
“We’re seeing a 20% increase in people coming into the food pantry per year,” Anderson said. “Programs like Meijer Simply Give that provide money to purchase food allow us to plan long-term for the community’s growing needs. When we can alleviate our budget from purchasing produce because of Meijer, we’re able to convert that money to expand our program and space and ultimately feed more people.”
To learn more about St. Louis de Monfort’s Sally Burton Food Pantry, visit https://sldmfishers.org/sally-burton-food-pantry-sbfp-food-delivery-to-seniors.