“We are proud to stand with Gleaners to help Hoosiers in our community faced with the challenges of food insecurity and living in food deserts”, Indianapolis Urban League President and CEO, Tony Mason, and honorary event chair for “Huddle Against Hunger”.
Indianapolis, October 4, 2024 – Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana announced today its new, exciting annual fundraising event, Gleaners Huddle Against Hunger, presented by the Indianapolis Colts. The event will be held on the field of Lucas Oil Stadium on Tuesday evening, October 15, 2024. All net proceeds will go directly and solely to Gleaners Food Acquisition Fund to acquire food for Hoosiers facing hunger in Gleaners’ 21-county service area in central and south-central Indiana.
The needs of people facing hunger are surging to well-above the record levels during the pandemic. As a result, Gleaners now must purchase nearly half of all food it provides people facing hunger, pushing its food acquisition budget from $2 million in 2019 to $7.7 million this year. Gleaners can buy about nine times what a dollar buys at a grocery store, and every dollar Gleaners receives can provide up to eight meals to people facing hunger.
“This event will be a unique opportunity to highlight the successful efforts being undertaken to fight hunger in our community and raise much-needed funds that will go directly to purchasing nutritious, high-quality food for our food-insecure neighbors,” said Fred Glass, President and CEO of Gleaners.
“As food insecurity and food deserts continue to be a challenge in our communities, organizations like Gleaners need our support more than ever before,” said Colts Owner & CEO Jim Irsay, an Honorary Chair for the event. “The Colts and Gleaners have a long history of partnership, and now we’re honored to join together again to raise vital funding to feed our friends, fans, and neighbors in need.”
Guests will enjoy an action-packed, gameday-like atmosphere with complimentary food and beverage, free parking, on-field activities, historic memorabilia from The Jim Irsay Collection, and engagement with the Indianapolis Colts. Premium sponsors and their guests will have a Colts Locker Room experience prior to the main event.
Will you join us in supporting this new and exciting annual fundraiser?
A limited number of general admission tickets will be available for the main event.
Some sponsorship opportunities also remain available. Contact glowry@gleaners.org for more information.
Honorary Event Chairs: Joe Breen (RMA Advisors), Andy Crask (Bank of America), Geordan Coleman (Bank of America), Scott Davison (OneAmerica Financial), Erin Dorsey (Dorsey Foundation), Gary Edwards (DEEM), Laura and Tony George, Jim Irsay (Indianapolis Colts), Colleen Juergensen (Kroger), Milele Kennedy (Gennesaret Free Clinic), Katie and Morgan Lucas (Lucas Oil), Joy Mason (Optimist Business Solutions) and Tony Mason (Indianapolis Urban League), Jackie Morris, Sara Fehsenfeld Morris (The Heritage Group), Dennis Murphy (IU Health), Bill Shrewsberry (Shrewsberry & Associates LLC), Jeff Simmons (Elanco), Jeff Smulyan (Emmis Communications), John Thompson (Thompson Distribution Co. Inc), Cassidy and Dan Towriss (Group1001), Roberta and Bill Witchger (Marian Inc.).
A limited number of general admission tickets will be available for the main event. Some sponsorship opportunities also remain available. Contact glowry@gleaners.org for more information.
About Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, Inc.
Gleaners was founded in 1980 and is a respected leader within Feeding America, the nation’s food bank network. Since that
time, Gleaners has distributed nearly one billion pounds of food and critical grocery products through a network of three
hundred hunger relief agencies, schools and community partners serving Hoosiers facing food insecurity. In addition to food
distribution to agencies, we serve our most vulnerable populations, seniors, and children, through specialty programs such as
Gleaners2Go, Home Delivery, School-Based Pantries, and Mobile Pantries. Comprehensive outreach services (SNAP, Medicaid,
utility assistance, and more) and wrap-around services from collaborative partners are offered to help reduce the line.