Thanks to all of our community parnters who supported us with booth, table and promotional sponsorships as well – the Emmis family of stations (93WIBC, 1070 The Fan, B105 and Hank FM), WTHR-13, Complete Office Supply, Adrian Orchards, Two Men and a Truck, Huntington Bank, ComedySportz, Cartridge Specialists INK, Graphicon, Unique Home Solutions, the American Legion, Avon, HVAF and Indy Custom Cornhole. Bandwagon put on a great show, too!

And thanks to our community for coming out and putting those lunch dollars to work for a good cause! If you’d like to learn more (or buy one of those great t-shirts) about our programs that support our neighbors struggling with homelessness and abuse, go to HomelessnessBites.org

Just yesterday, we reached out to Kroger, and like their slogan, we could count on them to come through for us. This isn’t a small act of kindness. We’re anticipating a great crowd this year, so we’re talking about 1,000 or so scoops of ice cream. So, a big thanks to Kroger for stepping up to help us raise funds for our Homelessness Bites campaign that supports our Women’s and Children’s Shelter here in Indianapolis.

And don’t forget to grab lunch with your dessert….Applebee’s will be serving up roast beef or freshly grilled chicken sandwiches and chips on the side for just $5! Stop by the Ricker’s pop trailer and grab a soft drink for just $1. Thanks to our generous partners, all the proceeds from this event will help us provide shelter, life skills classes and support for women and kids who are homeless due to financial hardships or abuse. What a great motivation to ‘Eat in the Street’ on Thursday, October 7!

We’ll have plenty of booths to stop by including Adrian Orchards, Two Men and a Truck, Indiana Pacers Fan Van and more. Live music will be provided by Band Wagon. And don’t forget that coat for Coats for Kids – we’ll give you a FREE apple cobbler as your sweet reward!

We still have booth space available for just $50 or join us as a participating sponsor at our table displays for just $75. Call Kristen at 224-1019 to join us! And to learn more about how you can help us Bite Back, go to HomelessnessBites.org.

Over the next few weeks, we’ll be working out the details and planning an event that will be worth spending your lunch hour with us. We’re asking you to mark your calendar now for Thursday, October 7 on Monument Circle. All the proceeds from this event will provide shelter, mentoring, tutoring and other programs for kids and their moms who come to our shelter in need of a safe place to stay and fresh start.

Stay tuned for updates…

We want to be sure to thank our event sponsors. Without the generosity of partners like ours, we wouldn’t have the ability to host an event for you to be a part of. So, thanks to our campaign sponsor – Two Men and a Truck, lunch sponsor – Applebee’s, apple cobbler sponsor – GFS Marketplace, apple sponsor – Adrian Orchards, media partners – WIBC 93/ESPN The Fan 1070/B105.7/HANK 97.1, campaign spokesperson, Mel McMahon, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The American Legion, Dunkin’ Donuts, Comedysportz, Squish Designs, Indy Moms Like Me, the Indiana Pacers and their Fan Van, the Indianapolis Colts Cheerleaders, and folks from each of our Salvation Army’s nearby locations. And thanks to Bandwagon for setting the mood with some great tunes that certainly called people from blocks away!

So, thanks for supporting Homelessness Bites and for donating coats to Bob Gregory’s Coats for Kids. Stay tuned to find out how much we raised for programs at our women’s and children’s shelter.

We’ll have all kinds of entertainment and surprises with live music by Bandwagon and appearances by the Pacemates and more! And while you’re there, please stop by our sponsor’s booths. We’ll be hosting our campaign sponsor – Two Men and a Truck, apple cobbler sponsor – GFS Marketplace, apple sponsor – Adrian Orchards, media partners – WIBC 93/ESPN The Fan 1070/B105.7/HANK 97.1, Big Brothers Big Sisters, The American Legion, Dunkin’ Donuts, Comedysportz, Squish Designs, Indy Moms Like Me and folks from each of our Salvation Army’s nearby locations.

Speaking of apple cobbler…remember if you donate a new or gently used coat to Bob Gregory’s Coats for Kids campaign, we’ll give you a sweet reward – a FREE apple cobbler! Help us provide a warm coat to Indy’s children in need.

See you there!

You can help us to provide shelter, food, and a fresh start to our neighbors in need by joining us on Thursday, October 1 at our 6th annual Apple Fest. The Salvation Army is inviting those who live and do business downtown to Eat in the Street for homeless kids. And we’d like you to join us.

Booth space is only $100 for businesses ($50 for non-profits) and the funds raised at this event – through sponsorships and lunch – will be used to offer housing assistance, resources and support to moms and children find themselves homeless due to a financial struggles and domestic violence. Your donation will reserve a booth for you to showcase your items or services, and you will keep any profits from the day.

In addition to raising funds to help homeless kids, we hope to use this event to give your business/organization a little extra promotion. The event will be promoted on the Emmis stations and on WTHR channel 13 (as a Coats for Kids collection site) for the two weeks leading up to the event. Apple Fest will also be featured on Emmis’ websites with a link to our event site, HomelessnessBites.org, which will include logos, contact information and web links for all of our sponsors. We are also working with television, web and print media partners to promote the event.

Apple Fest is a great opportunity to reach potential customers while giving back to the community. Space is available on a first come, first serve basis through this Friday, September 25. Interested? Give Kristen a call at 224-1019.

Applebee’s Restaurants will provide the lunch items and, or course, there will be hot apple cobbler and ice cream for dessert.  Orchard fresh apples will once again be provided by Adrian Orchards.

Be sure to check out our sponsors’ booths, especially WIBC 93.1, B105.7, HANK-FM, and 1070 The Fan, four stations from Emmis Communication who are on board to spread the word this year. Not to mention, we may be taking over a little bit more of the circle this year. Things are growing.

Bandwagon will once again rock the lunchtime crowd with their vast repertoire of classic and current top 40 hits.

Apple Fest is just one part of The Salvation Army’s Homelessness Bites campaign.  1,300 1,500 of Indy’s homeless are children with an average age of 9.  For these kids, homelessness bites.  You can bite back by joining us (and making your friends, family, co-workers, and more come, too) at Apple Fest.

Thanks to platinum sponsor, Crystal Flash, this week’s Golf 4 Giving event pulled in a field of golfers and sponsors who came out in support of The Salvation Army’s shelter for women and children. This was the 11th year for the event, this year held at the Golf Club of Indiana.

WISH-TV8‘s Eric Halvorson agreed to host for the second time. “With the current economic difficulty and request for assistance up, I was more than happy to be here and help The Salvation Army help those in need in our community,” said Eric Halvorson.  “The Salvation Army is impacting lives right here in Indianapolis, just as they’ve done for many, many years.”

Last year’s event raised more than $28,000. And although the totals aren’t in, the Women’s Auxiliary is hoping they had even an even better year.  On behalf of the Women’s Auxiliary and The Salvation Army, we’d like to thank Applebee’s for providing lunch and Bravo’s Italian Restaurant for providing dinner. 

Thanks to our sponsors and golfers alike. You can find out more about the annual golf event and see photos by visiting Golf4Giving.org.

The details for this year’s 6th annual event are coming together. We’re pleased to announce our media partner for this year’s event – Emmis Communications. Now I don’t mention one specific station, because all four of Emmis’ stations will be promoting Apple Fest together. We’re thrilled to be working with the folks from WIBC 93.1fm, ESPN 1070 The Fan, 91.7 HANK fm and B105.7fm! Listen for promotions to start mid-September on-air and via the web.

And, of course, we couldn’t have an event without our food sponsor. Applebee’s is on board to once again bring their tasty, freshly grilled sandwiches and ice cold lemonade to downtown lunchgoers. They generously donate all of their items so we can turn your lunch dollars into a fresh start for homeless moms and their kids.

We’d love it if you’d come out and enjoy lunch for a good cause. And if you want to help us end homelessness in Indy, give Kristen a call at 224-1019 to sponsor a booth. For just $150 ($75 for non-profits) you can show off your wares or services and support our work to give these moms and kids a fresh start.

We enjoyed a picture perfect day – and if you don’t believe us, check out the pictures…because we took a few. With fantastic Fall weather like that, who wouldn’t be enticed to come out of their cubicles and enjoy freshly grilled Applebee’s food, flavored lemonade and apple cobbler?

So, thanks to all of our fellow Hoosiers who came out to Eat in the Street in support of our Homelessness Bites campaign. And thanks to our food sponsor, Applebee’s and our promotional partner Classic Hits 104.5FM WJJK. Thanks to Band Wagon - you rocked the Circle! To our booth partners (go here to learn more) – Comedy Sportz, The Columbia Club, Adrian Orchards (those gala apples were amazing), HVAF and Operation Compassion – for coming out and sharing your products and services. Thanks to our campaign partners, Two Men and a Truck, for all you do for Homelessness Bites throughout the year!

And, of course, thanks to our volunteers who are always ready and willing to offer a hand to serve others. We appreciate you all and are looking forward to next year!

As they say, it takes a village…so don’t assume the work is done. There’s still 1,300 kids who don’t have a place to call home – who eat all their meals in the street. Homelessness Bites…Bite Back. See how you can partner with us to make a difference for our neighbors in need.