Fall has appeared once again as another season pushes us toward the end of 2026. I lived in the South for a decade some years ago, and among other things I missed about the Midwest, the change of seasons was one of them. I welcome the cool evenings, sweaters, boots, homemade soup, and football season. Go IU!
Change is a natural part of every season, and at the Community Foundation, we see that same rhythm in our work. As our grant cycle closes, our scholarship season begins, bringing new opportunities to Morgan County students. Last month, we awarded $160,000 to 19 nonprofits, and now we are evaluating applications from 93 students who have applied for the prestigious Lilly Endowment Community Scholarship.
Amidst these efforts, we look ahead to Thanksgiving and the growing demand on our local food pantries. The Morgan County Food Pantry Coalition has 13 members, and the number of people turning to them indicates that, for many Morgan County families, simply putting food on the table has become more difficult. Most pantries are reporting new families every month, and many of them not who you expect.
In February, Fred Glass, CEO of Gleaners Food Bank, shared with a group of Community Foundation leaders that he regularly visits food pantries across Indiana. During a visit to Martinsville, he observed a nicely dressed woman entering Churches In Mission nervously offering a utility bill to verify her residency. A volunteer greeted her with a hug and reassured her that everyone was welcome. The woman was a mother of four who suddenly found herself navigating an unexpected financial hardship after her husband, a physician, left. Her situation is a powerful reminder that food insecurity does not always look the way we might expect and that a change in life circumstances can place almost any family in a position of needing a helping hand.
Gleaners has increased the food supplies to Morgan County food pantries by more than 110,000 pounds in 2026 from 2025 due to demand. Likewise, Churches In Mission and WellSpring have seen roughly a 10% increase overall while Pantry 279, a Bloomington organization serving 46 counties including Morgan, is experiencing a 17% increase overall and 77% in Morgan County this year. Churches In Mission notes of the 1850 families served to date this year, the families have more members per household. Just last week, WellSpring’s pantry served a record number of 32 people in one day, more than double the norm. This excludes the over 100 people they house and feed three times per day.
Last year, after listening to our food pantries, I learned about a national program, Farmers & Hunters Feeding the Hungry (FHFH). This program was born in 1997 after a Maryland man saw a woman struggling to load a battered buck into her car so she could feed her family. This gentleman, Rick Wilson, stopped to help her and felt both heartbroken and inspired. Her determination to do whatever it took to feed her kids made a lasting impact on him. His vision has now grown into a nationwide effort uniting volunteers across America to provide healthy protein for food banks in local communities. The Monroe County chapter gifted Morgan County over 1,000 pounds of venison last November over Thanksgiving weekend, and this year, they have committed to partnering with our hunters again through KW Deer Processing.
I want to clarify that I am not recruiting new hunters. It is not my intention to offend animal lovers. However, if you hunt, please consider donating a deer. The meat from an average deer provides approximately 160 meals. Indiana licensed hunters are allowed to kill 6 does and 1 buck, and in the reduction zone that extends between State Road 67 and I69 and from State Hwy 39 to I 465, hunters are permitted to kill 9 does and 1 buck. With the number of hunters and farmers in Morgan County, this seems like a natural solution to addressing our growing food shortage crisis.
For non-hunter, there are many ways to help. Direct monetary donations to any Morgan County food pantry will be appreciated. Or, if you want to donate to the Morgan County Food Pantry Coalition, they have a fund here at CFMC. All 13 members are beneficiaries of this fund. You can donate to their fund through our website or simply mail a check to our office.
But if you aspire to help Morgan County’s food insecurity problem long term, I urge you to consider opening an endowed fund with us. Endowed funds provide an annual grant to a food pantry or pantries of your choice forever. CFMC has grown our endowed funds by $4 million in the last two years. Just like FHFH founder Rick Wilson, we all can make a lasting difference.
