The Leading Edge - January 2024

Forecasting a Blizzard of Food for Our County

Tandy Shuck, Executive Director

My love of philanthropy and the concept of helping thy neighbor started in the winter of 1978. I know some of you were not alive then but let me paint a picture for you. It was referred to as a once-in-a-generation blizzard. The storm set records still in place in some areas to this day. We had 30.6 inches in one month. The howling winds would create drifts up to as much as 20 – 25 feet. Many of us were “snowed in” for at least a week and there were pictures of people sledding out of second-floor windows.  You can Google it if you don’t believe me!

I grew up in Tipton and my family lived on 20 acres in the country. My driveway was approximately ¼ mile long and we were not going anywhere anytime soon during the blizzard of 1978. My Dad could be a little stubborn and would not miss work at a steel mill in Kokomo, so he had a buddy with a snowmobile that made it possible for him to get to work. My dad and his friend then decided to use the snowmobiles to help our neighbors. My mom called neighbors to see what food they needed besides milk and bread (why do we always need so much milk and bread during a snowstorm?).  The Shuck kids were recruited to keep track of what was needed for each family that lived within three miles of us. Dad and his friend spent their evenings making trips to the grocery store (twenty minutes away by car) and hauling back groceries to our fellow neighbors. They never once asked for a single penny. We probably didn’t have that extra money then, but my family agreed it was the thing that needed to be done to make sure everyone was okay during the great blizzard of 1978.

My family had great conversations about helping out and why that was so important. Those same feelings have carried forward with me today. I still worry a great deal about the food insecurity of my neighbors. I was thrilled when one of our project groups built the Blessing Boxes that can be found throughout Johnson County. Additionally, I love the Little Free Pantry right outside the Franklin Branch of the Johnson County Public Library (JCPL).

The Youth Leadership Academy has a project group that will be collecting food and non-perishable items to stock the Blessing Box at Hurricane Community Church and the Little Free Pantry at the JCPL Franklin Branch for the entire month of February (watch for more information about that after the first of the new year).  When I went online to get the YLA group signed up to stock the Little Free Pantry, I realized how many weeks were still open for 2024. I would like to encourage you to consider getting a group of friends and/or co-workers to join together to cover a week of stocking the Little Free Pantry.  Here’s the link to more information about donations and signing up for a week.

I don’t have multiple reasons to motivate you to do this, because I think the main reason should be motivating enough – we don’t want any of our neighbors to be hungry during a snowstorm or at any other time during the year.  I encourage you to do what you can.

The Johnson County Blessing Boxes information can be found here. You can stock those whenever you see a need.

Feeling blessed and wanting to share with others,

Tandy

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