As we get closer to Thanksgiving, volunteering at food drives becomes a popular way to give back to your community. In Indianapolis, there are plenty of options.

Food drives can be anything from large, outdoor spaces where drive-thru pantries run smoothly to volunteering to cook or deliver holiday meals to those in need. Mall parking lots or outside athletic venues are common locations, known as drive-thru pantries.

While BD students can participate in the Wayne Township food drive here at school, other options are available throughout the city.

Drive-thru pantries are open to anyone who needs extra help getting food. Often, visitors do not need to provide proof of income or ID. Visitors may be asked for their zip code and the number of people in their house for record keeping information.

Ben Davis 2011 graduate Brittany Stark donates food for local food drives and has been involved with food drives for several years.

“My role is I am the person responsible for accepting all food donations and I also purchased food for the pantry, so the items you see at a food drive is food I have either donated or purchased,” Stark said.

Stark likes the feeling of helping others/

“Food pantries/mobiles can provide the staples of food (pbj/cereal/bread etc) while a family is in a pinch or to help them till they get paid to get groceries or if they don’t have enough for groceries,” Stark said. “For someone to get food they don’t have to provide work information just how many is in the household if they want to be contacted to get more food or help (food stamps/snap etc).”

For what she does with where she works, she explains what they give out to their visitors.

“We provide free produce and milk to all pantries and mobiles,” Stark said. “There should be a protein product and dairy and some other things based on what is donated or purchased. With Covid donations aren’t as much as they used to be so we rely on purchased products or whatever donations we get. We try to and. More yellow and green foods (healthy) then red items (unhealthy).”

A list of food drives in the metro Indy area can be seen at https://www.foodpantries.org/ci/in-indianapolis