IU Corps students gain professional experience, support the community through Hoosier Hills Food Bank

On a recent Friday afternoon in early November, while offices everywhere were winding down for the weekend, the Bloomington, Ind.-based Hoosier Hills Food Bank was a whirlwind of activity.

In the lobby were stacks of books from the annual Food Bank Book Fair fundraiser, which takes place each October. Indiana University Bloomington students with IU Corps placements at the food bank were making calls, creating newsletters, coordinating deliveries, and running numbers in areas spanning development to operations. Already that afternoon, the agency had already seen about 30 volunteers, some driving food trucks with names like “Regina.”

Everyone was in motion.

“Friday is our busiest day,” said Jake Bruner, director of development and administration at the food bank during a tour of the facility. “We work hard Fridays to get a lot of food out the door and delivered to agencies.” Among its many partnerships with United Way of Monroe County agencies, Hoosier Hills Food Bank provides food for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard, the Community Kitchen, New Hope Family Shelter, Salvation Army, Area 10 Agency on Aging, Monroe County United Ministries, Boys & Girls Clubs of Bloomington, Girls Inc., Amethyst House, and Middle Way House.

Bruner provided a tour through the high ceilinged warehouse rooms full of dry goods and bulk items, noting the area earmarked for IU’s Crimson Cupboard, an on-campus food pantry for the IU community operated by IU Corps. A conveyor-belt bore some of the 1,000 boxes of nonperishable food that go out to seniors in six counties every month; a brand-new program has infused these deliveries with fresh foods such as apples and milk. In a cool, spotless room connected to a warehouse space with three giant refrigerators, “food rescue” volunteers repackaged unused fresh food from area farms, Indiana University, local restaurants, grocery stores such as Fresh Thyme and Lucky’s and the Monroe County Community School Corporation.

60 million pounds of food

Since opening its doors in 1982, the Bloomington, Ind.-based Hoosier Hills Food Bank has distributed over 60 million pounds of food to an increasing number of clients in an area that now covers Brown, Lawrence, Orange, Owen, Martin and Monroe counties. Volunteers and employees drive the food to partner United Way member agencies and mobile pantries in rural food deserts where people don’t have as much access to fresh, healthy food. Hoosier Hills has just 12 full-time staff members and over 2,000 volunteers, many of whom are IU students, staff, and faculty.

Julio Alonso, director of the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, said the agency acts as an infrastructure that processes donated food from retailers, farmers, and wholesalers and distributes it to those who need it most. “You just can’t function well and do the things you need to do if you’re worried about putting food on the table,” Alonso said. “That’s true across all walks of life.”

The food bank collects, stores, and distributes food that serves more than 100 nonprofit agencies, 100 food pantries, and nearly 26,000 individuals each year, also helping curb food waste by collecting and repackaging perfectly good usable food. In 2017, it distributed 4,223,459 total pounds of food and 1,154,936 pounds of fresh produce. “The agencies we work with serve children, seniors, and everyone in between. They’re addressing addiction, homelessness, domestic violence, health care – and all of these issues can cause people to be in poverty or require food assistance,” he said.

Alonso added that he hopes that working at Hoosier Hills leaves a lasting impact on the IU students who work there. “The students that work with us in particular are usually pretty stellar people,” he said. “Maybe they’ll go on to careers in nonprofits, but even if they don’t, if they go into something completely different, hopefully they’ll remember what that experience was like and be generous in their lives. I hope they’ll try to volunteer, try to donate, try to help out, and try not to be judgmental.”

Karina Gutierrez, junior

Major: Nonprofit leadership and management in the School of Public & Environmental Affairs
Minor: Spanish in the College of Arts & Sciences; working toward a certificate in Political and Civic Engagement and a Certified Nonprofit Professional credential
Position at Hoosier Hills: Development intern

As the development intern at the Hoosier Hills Food Bank, Karina Gutierrez is learning about the operations side of the nonprofit world. “It’s something different from what I have experience with, which is mostly the program side of things,” she said. “I know that I’ll need to understand a lot of aspects about nonprofits to be a successful community and social service manager one day.”

On campus, she serves as a CommUNITY Educator in Briscoe, helping plan workshops and foster conversations among residents to understand their identities and those around them. She’s also a service project coordinator with the Nonprofit Leadership Alliance, creating monthly IU Corps service opportunities for the members of the organization to become engaged with local nonprofits. Her favorite spot on campus? “The Bookmarket Eatery [in the Herman B Wells Library]. I also enjoy studying in Briscoe so I can be productive while also being engaged with other people.”

Michael Etter, graduate student

Major: Dual master’s degree in environmental science and public affairs in the School of Public & Environmental Affairs
Position at Hoosier Hills: Service Corps Fellow through SPEA

Now in his third year as a grad student in SPEA’s No. 1 ranked program, Michael Etter is completing his final semester as a Service Corps Fellow at Hoosier Hills Food Bank, having worked there since 2016.

“I expected to gain a valuable experience, but I didn’t think it would necessarily apply to my plans after graduation,” said Etter, who also completed his undergraduate degree at IU Bloomington. “I’m interested in local government and many more sustainable practices with city development and rural development. Here, I’ve been able to work on my program management skills, database management, and just coordinate with other agencies in our six-county area.” Part of his work includes working to improve nutrition education with clients or publicizing some of the programs. “I would tell my past self, it’ll be 10 times more valuable than you think it is, really. Getting to use my classroom knowledge in an actual work setting was super valuable and really cool.” After graduation in May, Etter, who is originally from Fort Wayne, plans to move to Indianapolis to work in local government. He’ll be back to visit. “I think Bloomington offers so much—it’s really a melting pot of cultures and thinking and experiences.”

Carl Woody, graduate student

Major: Environmental policy and natural resource management
Position at Hoosier Hills: Service Corps Fellow through SPEA

Carl Woody moved to Bloomington from Austin to be part of SPEA’s MPA program following a job with the AmeriCorps national service program doing conservation work in Missouri and Texas. “SPEA did a really good job of making us feel wanted. They do a lot to promote diversity and an inclusive environment,” said Woody, now completing his second and final year in the program. “And IU in general is a gorgeous campus.”

As a Service Corps Fellow on the development team at Hoosier Hills Food Bank, he does marketing outreach and helps solicit donations from the community. Currently, he’s putting together a thank-you calendar for the community featuring artwork submitted by local kids.

After completion of his IU program in the spring of 2019, Woody plans to move to the west coast and find a job working for the forest service, a national parks service, or a natural resource agency. His experience with Hoosier Hills has laid the groundwork for whatever comes next. “I learn something new here every day,” he said. “It always kind of surprises me how giving this community can be—and how difficult the job can be. It’s not always easy, but it’s certainly important and necessary.”