‘Feed My Sheep’ Begins Thanksgiving Food Drive This Week

By Jeannine Lee Ferrer, Feed My Sheep Chair—

MUNCIE, IN—Are you ready for the return of the largest free holiday dinner giveaway in East Central Indiana? The 28th annual Feed My Sheep Thanksgiving Day Community Outreach, will be held this year on Thursday November 23rd from 10 a.m.-12 noon at Northside Middle School.

I am the chair of this amazing organization and thrilled to say that Feed My Sheep is finally ready to return to our in-house Thanksgiving Day dinner and countywide deliveries. Feed My Sheep had typically held the dinner for three decades in Muncie, but took a three-year sabbatical due to health concerns caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in 2020.

Because we feed nearly 2,000 people and have 600-800 people volunteering for the event, we had cancelled the dinner and instead gave away grocery store gift cards and Mrs. Wicks Pies to families in need.  This year, with declined Covid cases and with health officials stating that the pandemic is over, we’re thrilled to bring back the in-house cafeteria dinners and the hot meal deliveries, coordinated each year by retired Delaware County Sheriffs Deputy Steve Case and his wife, local Christian singer Debbie Case.

While we did lose two very valuable members of our planning committee to the awful virus security guard Kelly Hutchinson and food line manager Phil Dunn – we honor their memories by continuing this important mission they both truly loved.  Besides a new board and volunteers, another big change is location: we are moving to Northside Middle School at 2400 W. Bethel Avenue, Muncie, IN this year due to changes in the Muncie Central High School cafeteria and the ongoing construction of the new YMCA at the high school.

This event is one that is a family tradition for many in Muncie and we cannot wait to help families again in November 2023. Our volunteers include a wonderful melting pot of kind people from across East Central Indiana – from tough blue-collar workers to educated professionals, pastors, politicians and tons of sub-cultures, races and ethnicities in between. We’ve also had the Muncie Mayor, Ball State University presidents and local athletic teams help with our food drive, giveaways and fundraisers.

Started by former Muncie residents George and Teresa Huggins in 1996, the Feed My Sheep initiative includes a monthlong food drive – held from October 23 to November 23. Lead this year by our Ball State University intern Lanie Guinn, we collect canned foods and boxed goods for the poor in our community. Schools, companies and local churches are all a valued part of that ongoing program – please text or call (765) 212-7537 to participate. We are thrilled to have the backing of so many people from so many area companies, including First Presbyterian Church, St. Mary’s Church, Hazelwood Church, The Star Press, Woof Boom Radio, First Merchants, Meijer, Second Harvest Food Bank, just to name a few.  As expected, our donations have declined in the last few years, so if you are in a position to help, send what you can and tell others as well.

To donate, please send checks to P.O. Box 145 Yorktown, IN 47396 or email us for donation pickups at feedmysheepmuncie@gmail.com (mailto:feedmysheepmuncie@gmail.com).