Supermarket Sweep set April 17 at Greencastle Kroger

The Hartman Center for Civic Engagement at DePauw University, in coordination with Purdue Extension-Putnam County, 4-H and the Putnam County Pantry Coalition, will host the Supermarket Sweep at Kroger on Monday, April 17 from 8 a.m.-9 p.m.

Approximately 13 percent of Putnam County residents are food insecure, and 45 percent do not qualify to receive SNAP or WIC benefits. While free and reduced school lunches may be offered throughout the school year, that still leaves many families without access to their next meal during the summer.

Food pantries help alleviate this burden, though the summer months are difficult for keeping them stocked. The Supermarket Sweep invites the community to purchase or donate items to the local pantries.

Community members and students may volunteer to help put on the event. They will be at the entrance of the store passing out fliers of what items are most necessary for the pantries, while representatives from the Pantry Coalition will be at the exit to collect in-kind and monetary donations.

Gift cards may be purchased beforehand to donate through the Hartman Center. Checks may also be written to the Putnam County Community Foundation toward the Pantry Coalition.

This year, 4-H and DePauw students have created a separate day for competitive challenges modeled after those with the first event in 2019. For every challenge a student wins, they will have the opportunity to win a gift card, and then each gift card will go toward purchasing items for the Pantry Coalition.

The Pantry Coalition is comprised of the pantries at Grace Tabernacle, Greencastle Christian Church, New Life Baptist Church, New Providence Baptist Church and St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church in Greencastle; Roachdale Christian Church; Two Fish and Faith, Hope and Love in Bainbridge; Russellville Community Church; and the Gleaners mobile food pantry efforts in both Bainbridge and Cloverdale.

Persons may contact Anna Sherrill at annasherrill@depauw.edu for more information, or check out the Pantry Coalition’s and the Hartman Center’s Facebook pages.