When the Love Your Neighbor Center (LYNC) was established, there was a vision for how the building would be used beyond its supportive housing mission. One part of that vision was to add a food pantry for the local community. The other was to create opportunities for the LYNC residents to gain vocational skills. The LYN Food Pantry was developed to achieve both visions.
“With the nearest grocery several miles away, and the nearest bus stop a mile and a half away, there is a lot of need in this community to find more accessible food,” says Crystal Wiley, Director of the Love Your Neighbor Center. “We wanted to be a good neighbor and help fill the gap.”
Bringing this vision to life required financial support, and the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation—the giving arm of the Indianapolis Rotary Club—made one of the lead grants that enabled SVdP Indy to open the Love Your Neighbor Food Pantry earlier this year.
A Humbling Award
SVdP Indy applied for one of the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation’s community grants. Last year, the foundation bestowed three $25,000 and three $10,000 grants to local non-profit organizations. SVdP Indy was selected for one of the $25,000 grants.
With nearly 100 worthy grant applicants, the decision is not taken lightly, says Erin Smith, president of the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation.
“Our mission is to serve those in Central Indiana, and we do that by providing grants to local organizations that meet community needs in a variety of ways,” Smith says. “Our Rotarians are out in the community looking for needs and how we can come alongside and help make the community stronger.”
Once the foundation’s board of directors narrows the candidates, they do site visits to see how their grant dollars will be used.A small group of Rotary representatives visited LYNC to hear more about SVdP Indy’s vision to serve the local community. The site visit was led by Charlie Meyer, president-elect of the Indianapolis Rotary Club and foundation board member.
“We like to meet with the potential recipients and hear more about how they intend to use the funds and ensure they’ll be good beneficiaries of the proceeds from the endowment,” he explains. “We were all immediately impressed by the Love Your Neighbor Center and how the addition of a food pantry would allow them to meet the needs of the greater community while also allowing LYNC residents to develop and hone job skills by running the pantry.”
Specifically, they valued seeing how foundation dollars would actually be used. SVdP Indy planned to use the funds to buy the necessary equipment to open the pantry and keep it running—things like coolers, freezers, refrigerators, shelving, etc.
Mission Possible (and Parallel)
SVdP Indy and the Indianapolis Rotary Club share a long history of serving the Central Indiana Community. The local Rotary club has been around for 115 years, and SVdP Indy was formed in the late 1940s. Both organizations have seen and experienced many changes, yet their missions—Service Above Self and Love Your Neighbor—remain steadfast with each year.
“Helping our neighbors throughout Central Indiana is the whole purpose of the Indianapolis Rotary Foundation, so our mission fits well with St. Vincent de Paul and the Love Your Neighbor Pantry,” Meyer says.
The Love Your Neighbor Pantry was also funded in part by The Capone Family, The Estate of Mary Beth Servies and United Way of Central Indiana’s Social Innovation Fund.
