LOUISVILLE — Donations to food banks across Southern Indiana have seen a steady increase, but unfortunately the need may be outgrowing the support.

“The requests for food assistance in our 13-county region are up about 65 percent in the last two years,” said Brian Riendeau, executive director of Dare to Care Food Bank.

The food bank — off Fern Valley Road — covers an area including Clark, Floyd, Crawford, Harrison and Washington counties, as well as some Kentucky counties.

“We’ve seen a tremendous increase in requests for food assistance at the same time food donations have risen as well,” Riendeau said. “The challenge we’re in right now is, I think, we may be reaching a point where demand is beginning to challenge our ability to get food.”

To help ensure that the support grows in concert with the need, Indiana Attorney General Greg Zoeller was at the food bank Tuesday to launch the second-annual March Against Hunger Food Drive. It is a friendly competition between Indiana attorneys and law firms to collect food and money for food banks that serve the state.

“We’ll play off of the competitive nature of the attorneys to help those who need our help,” Zoeller said.

The food drive “competition,” which runs for a two-week period through March 31, is designed to bridge the gap between holiday food assistance programs and a May food drive organized by postal workers.

The competition component is calculated by adding up points — monetary donations count as 5 pounds of food for every $1 donated — and the winners receive the attorney general’s cup trophy.

Partnering with the AG’s office is the Indiana State Bar Association, Feeding Indiana’s Hungry and the Dare to Care Food bank, which in last year’s drive raised the equivalent of 76 tons of food, or $28,000 for those in need.

Unfortunately, the need this year has increased.

“Frankly, in traveling around the state of Indiana, things are worse this year than they were last year,” Zoeller said.

Also, across the state the quantity of goods raised during the March Against Hunger is just a portion of the total needed for the year.

“Last year, the 10 food banks [that serve Indiana’s 92 counties] collectively distributed 42 million pounds of food and we know that we served just under 700,000 Hoosiers, nearly half of whom were children or seniors,” said Emily Weikert Bryant, executive director of Feeding Indiana’s Hungry.

Feeding Indiana’s Hungry and Dare to Care provided more than 2 million pounds of food to the five counties in Southern Indiana last year. The food is not only given to local food pantries, but also goes to help support soup kitchens and other local aid agencies.

“Hopefully, by getting involved in this competition, the attorneys can raise not only money, not only food, but also the needs of Dare to Care in the community around us,” said Todd Spurgeon, attorney with New Albany-based Kightlinger and Gray, representing Indiana’s state bar association.

While the need has grown, so have the group’s hopes.

“We’re expecting to surpass [last year’s total] this year and do even better,” Spurgeon said. “The legal community is in a position to help in this kind of thing.

“The times are tough, the economy is not getting any better at this point, so the need is even greater than it ever has been.”

While Zoeller is aware that the state of the economy has had a substantial impact on people across Indiana and that attorneys may have taken a drop in revenues recently, the requests for aid are even more important now.

“As part of our challenge, we ask the attorneys of our state to dig a little deeper,” he said. “Instead of focusing on the loss of a client or the loss of a little business, they can turn their attention to some of the people that really need their help.”



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SO YOU KNOW

• Those wishing to donate to Dare to Care Food Bank can contribute by taking nonperishable food items to participating law firms or by visiting the Feeding Indiana’s Hungry Web site at www.feedingindianashungry.org. A list of participating firms can be found at www.atg.in.gov