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Gleaners to host drive-thru food giveaway at Indianapolis Motor Speedway

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) — During Halloween weekend, Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana is hosting a Mega Fresh” food drive to feed hungry Hoosiers, but it will also have other resources as we enter flu season.

The group will bring its Mega Fresh Mobile Pantry to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway on Saturday.

With the help of IMS and Anthem employees, Gleaners is planning to host more than 1,500 families in this drive-thru food giveaway, sending each family home with more than 30 pounds of food. John Elliott, Gleaners president and chief executive officer, says he’s recently seen the need grow.

“The number of food-insecure families have more than doubled,” Elliott said. “While we saw a little bit of drop-off in the summer, starting at the end of August we saw an increase of families in need and it’s continued to climb.”

With the need increasing and a drop-off in volunteers, Elliott says his team has seen more than double the work and some of them haven’t taken a day off since March. He’s hoping as volunteers start to return to Gleaners, the event will pick up the spirits of the volunteers and the families receiving food.

“We don’t have as many volunteers as we need, but they’re starting to come back and that’s critical,” Elliott said.

Halloween candy will also be served to the families. Food distribution will being at 10 a.m. Saturday. Cars can start lining up an hour ahead of time.