Holiday Heroes: Food Bank of Northern Indiana

South Bend, Ind. - Through 125 agency partners, The Food Bank of Northern Indiana said it distributed more than 10 million pounds of food last year.

But the need to feed Michiana families is growing.

Randy Hine is one of the thousands of volunteers the Food Bank relies on. He helps out at the Community Food Pantry of St. Joseph County a couple days a week; stocking carts, stocking cars, and stocking an endless number of family's kitchens full of food. The pantry hands out upwards of 200 boxes of food on any given day.

"I had one [guest] that actually said to me, ‘Gee I’m sorry. I’m the only one in my family.’ And I said, ‘You need to eat, too,'" Hine said.

Last year, the Food Bank said its St. Joseph County pantry served 66,112 individuals.

This year, the pantry passed that total before the end of September.

“It really helps out in times where things don’t always go so well," Billie Rose told ABC57 while picking up a box of food. 

The Food Bank said this year's demand is up more than a third in St. Joseph County and it's seen a 37% increase in the number of households relying on free meals throughout its six-county service area.

"People need help. Especially today with the inflation and all the nonsense going on," Hine said. "People need to have something nice to happen to them.”

People can sign up to volunteer on the Food Banks website or make a donation.