Boulevard Place Food Pantry
2020 ANNUAL REPORT
PANTRY BLESSINGS
Greetings from Boulevard Place Food Pantry, a Special Work of St. Vincent de Paul Society, which so many of you so generously support. Our self-select grocery store certainly faced logistical hurdles in a year we’ll never forget! Ultimately the pantry fulfilled its mission of serving a vital need in our community, as our
2020 annual report documents.
We fed our hungry neighbors with an operation that was reimagined twice—first, in mid-March,
after the pandemic made in-person shopping impractical and our mask-on volunteers converted
to a drive-through. The second change began in July, as volunteers built and handed out “to-go” kits with the sounds of hammers and drills in the background as accompaniment. Music to our ears!
Some of our significant achievements in the past year:
- A ceremonial groundbreaking July 7 featured Indianapolis Mayor Joe Hogsett along with dozens of supporters and dignitaries such as the Witchger Family and Marian Inc. In September and October new concrete walls went up.
- By November 7, we had added 1,500 square feet, unfinished but under roof, with freshly placed concrete. This area will house a new ground-floor bathroom, office, storage space and unloading area. Interior work will continue into early 2021.
- We welcomed Amy Taylor, our first volunteer coordinator.
- Our five contributing Catholic parishes (Immaculate Heart of Mary, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. Luke the Evangelist, St. Joan of Arc and Christ the King) continued to impress with significant direct food and hygiene product donations. The parish donations comprise 10% of all food received at Boulevard Place. We are also fortunate to receive support from other neighboring churches, including Meridian Street United Methodist, Mt. Pleasant Missionary Baptist, Unitarian Universalist Church of Indianapolis and Fairview Presbyterian. Also, Common Ground Christian Church (Midtown) donated the funds to pay for three critical commercial freezer chests that allowed us to continue providing cold food while our walk-in freezer/refrigerator was temporarily disassembled.
- We are blessed by local partners—like Broad Ripple Farmers Market, who provided 8,189 pounds of fresh produce to ensure healthy food options for our clients; and the Butler-Tarkington Neighborhood Association, which has worked with us on grant funds for renovating infrastructure.
As we move forward into 2021, we ask for your continued support and prayers!
