Local Church & Community Center Respond With Critical Saturday Rides 

In response to the recent closure of Double 8 Foods located at 39th and Illinois Street, North United Methodist Church (North Church) and the MLK Community Center are fulfilling a critical need for Saturday rides as well as Wednesday rides to local grocery stores. While other community supporters offer weekday rides, North Church and MLK Community Center will provide free rides on Saturdays, the day when most community members did their grocery shopping at the local Double 8 Foods.

Mission & Outreach team at North Church developed a multi-pronged approach towards providing a short-term, immediate response to support the neighborhood. To enable neighborhood families the access to groceries, North Church is providing funds immediately to MLK Community Center to hire a local driver to drive a free shuttle on Saturdays to a local grocery store. In initial research, many families utilized Double 8 Foods on Saturday and no local organization was currently fulfilling this need. 

North Church will continue the Farmer’s Markets throughout the summer with the next market scheduled for August 20, 4:30-7:30pm.

This unique market partners with WIC and Senior Farmers’ Market Nutrition Program to hand out vouchers to qualified women and seniors. This year, the market is also approved to accept SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) and Fresh Bucks. The Market also participates in their own voucher system through North Church, handing out limited vouchers to qualified individuals, making getting fresh, local and healthy food a reality for all. Over twenty (20) vendors are committed to offering more diverse produce, meats, cheeses, baked goods, breads, food trucks, and more.

North is also seeking to increase the frequency and availability of the monthly Farmer’s Markets through the fall and possibly into the winter; these additional markets will have a primary focus on produce, bread, and dairy. More information will be available on the additional markets soon. 

Finally, North Church will continue to support long-time partner Mid-North Food Pantry in their procurement of perishable items to include the possibility of more meats and the addition of dairy items.

North Church has a long history of supporting the midtown neighborhood and looks forward to supporting the residents in this time of need.

Contact

North United Methodist Church, Eric Steele, Minister of Mission & Outreach, (317) 924-2612, esteele@northchurchindy.com

MLK Community Center, Allison Luthe, Managing Director, (317) 923-4581, aluthe@mlkccindy.org