Downtown Indy to hold donation drive for homeless community
INDIANAPOLIS (WISH) – Downtown Indy, Inc. is encouraging people to give gently used clothing, personal hygiene products and non-perishable food items during Show Some Love Back Downtown Friday.
Donations will benefit Horizon House and Veterans Support Council. They can be dropped off at the southwest quadrant of Monument Circle on Friday from 10 a.m. to 1 p.m. March Madness face masks will be given to those who make a donation.
The initiative is also an effort to bring more people to downtown and support local businesses. Downtown Indy Sr. Vice President of Marketing and Events Bob Shultz told News 8 they have been working to revive the economy since the end of last summer.
Shultz said the workforce is slowly returning as about 30% of employees are back to work in downtown full-time and 50% are returning part-time.
He mentioned it’s still a challenge to get visitors.
“Even though downtown represents a little over 1% of the total landmass of the county it generates 15% of the revenue for city services,” said Shultz. “When downtown’s economy begins to struggle that entire community will feel its affects.”
Shultz said the hospitality community is looking forward to the warmer months to make more revenue, but may not see the maximum number of visitors until 2023 or 2024 due to the pandemic.