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IPS and Gleaners Food Bank feed more than 50,000 families during coronavirus pandemic

INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Teachers and staff are making sure children don’t go to bed hungry. They’re working with Gleaners Food Bank to hand out meals to families.

It’s part of Hoosiers Helping Hoosiers Fund Drive for Food Campaign.

Michelle Miles told News 8 she’s been a bus driver for Indianapolis Public Schools (IPS) for 24 years. Miles said she’s still making time to help students although she’s unable to work behind the wheel during this time.

“I’m just grateful to be apart of this, this whole operation right now because I feel like it was something that needed to be done in every community because people don’t always come out when they need help,” said Miles.

She and other drivers, including teachers, are volunteering to hand out meals to the community. There were three school buses that rolled in at Longfellow Middle school with more than 200 boxes of non-perishable food items.

“We’re just trying to make sure that everyone has their basic needs met and even if it’s just a little bit of food, that helps a little ways because if you’re hungry, it’s kind of hard to think about anything else,” said Laura Terhune.

IPS Superintendent Aleeshia Johnson said they’ve fed more than 50,000 families so far.

” For the most part, people are just grateful there’s a lot of gratitude. We are in times that are unprecedented, there are lots of concerns or questions around the income that will be coming into their homes,” Johnson said.

Volunteer Zach Bosell said, “I had kids come to my classroom every single day asking ‘hey Mr. Bosell, do you have food today? Do you have anything that I can munch on? I haven’t had breakfast because my parents couldn’t afford meals.’ So, I normally would grab something out of my house, chips, breakfast items that I wasn’t going to eat or even give them some of my own lunch.”

Gleaners Food Bank helps fill each box that weighs about 20 pounds. Each family gets two of them and everyone gets a meal, no questions asked.

“I see some people come back and they’ll say ‘oh, I just need two boxes this week.’ I see some people come back and they say ‘oh, I’m picking up for my elder neighbors in the neighborhood’ and I think that’s a blessing too,” said Miles.