Eat Outside the Box: event to end homelessness

As part of the Homelessness Bites campaign, a campaign to raise awareness and money for Indianapolis’s homeless, The Salvation Army put together the second annual Eat Outside the Box event. A lunch was served from 10 a.m. until 2 p.m. Friday, May 14 at the Veteran’s Memorial Plaza. Numerous people had the $5 lunch which included a hamburger or hotdog, chips, coleslaw and a drink, while 67 homeless persons ate for free.

About 7,500 Hoosiers in Indianapolis are homeless each year. Many times these individuals are single mothers and their children. The Salvation Army provides for homeless mothers and their children at the Women and Children’s Shelter in Indianapolis. Julia Sipes, special events coordinator for the shelter, says that raising money for the Homelessness Bites cause “means they (shelter residents) can eat. Every cent helps.”

Sipes says that a major benefit of The Salvation Army’s Women and Children’s Shelter is that it’s a safe haven. Some of the women and children at the shelter are escaping domestic violence. The shelter provides more than just a bed, but also life skills classes that include parenting courses, nutrition courses and guest speakers.

Homelessness Bites spokesperson Mel McMahon was looking for a way to help others when Jeff Stanger, Development Director of The Indiana Salvation Army, asked her to join the Homelessness Bites campaign last August. “I could not turn it down,” says McMahon.

One of McMahon’s main focuses for the Homelessness Bites campaign is to reach out to young people and make them more aware of the services that The Salvation Army provides.  

Volunteering their time and providing music for the event was Band Wagon. The band is a familiar participant in these events, performing at The Salvation Army’s Apple Fest event last October.

“It’s just a great honor for us,” says Band Wagon singer Lisa Kopczynski. “We’ll do it every time they ask us to.”

There were many supporters and participants in this year’s Eat Outside the Box. Hot dogs, hamburgers and chips were provided by All-American Picnic Company and GFS Marketplace, and drinks were donated by Ricker’s Stores and Noodles and Company. Other participants included Two Men and a Truck, ampm, ChaCha, 107.9, WISH-TV, Ivy Tech Community College, Comcast, Avon, Indy Star, The American Legion, The Indianapolis Colts, The Indiana Pacers, Indy Custom Cornhole and HVAF.

‘A better place’ for the ‘most good’

Today you can celebrate National Salvation Army Week at our Dine to Donate at Max & Erma’s at 5899 E. 86th Street. When you bring in this flyer from 11a-8p, your server will credit us with 20% of your purchase. You were planning on eating today anyway, right? Why not choose to put those lunch and dinner dollars to work for your neighbors in need? The proceeds will help us provide services like food and utility assistance, shelter to the homeless, refuge for abused women and children, after school and senior programs and emergency disaster services. (Thanks to  Larissa and all the folks at Max & Erma’s for supporting us through this event!)

And don’t forget, the fun’s not over yet. Tomorrow marks the end of our National Salvation Army Week events, but we’re going out with a bang! Join us for ‘Eat Outside the Box’, our picnic to end homelessness tomorrow from 10a-2p at Veteran’s Memorial Plaza at Meridian & Michigan Streets in downtown Indy. Just $5 gets you a boxed lunch of a hot dog or hamburger, chips and a drink. Bring a little extra to purchase a homemade dessert from our volunteers – Evelyn’s fudge is AMAZING! Enjoy live music, throw a game of cornhole and check out our partners’ tables. And there’s still time to be a booth sponsor – just $50 to reach about 500 prospects! Call Kristen at 224-1019.

Partner with a purpose

Long-time Homelessness Bites campaign partners, Two Men and a Truck, will be joining us at ‘Eat Outsides the Box’ this May 14 from 10am-2pm at Veteran’s Memorial Plaza. And they’re hoping you’ll follow their lead by becoming a booth sponsor.

Why? Because 1,500 kids spend their nights on the streets of Indy and you can do something about it!

Partnership is super affordable – booth space is just $50! And Veteran’s Memorial Plaza offers a great location where about 400 picnic-goers joined us for last year’s event. That means prime exposure for our partnering non-profits and businesses. You’re welcome to have displays, giveways and even sell non-food items and you keep the profits!

Interested? Call Kristen at 224-1019 and reserve your space today to get in on early promotions.

Can’t sponsor? Well, you can come out for lunch and take a bite out of homelessness! The central location at Meridian & Michigan is super convenient for the employees of dozens of downtown businesses to just walk over and join us. All-American Picnic Company will be grilling hamburgers in addition to hotdogs. And we’re thrilled to have live music from BandWagon again this year! Lunch and tunes beats leftovers at your desk, right?

Partner, Picnic at ‘Eat Outside the Box’

In case you haven’t heard, we’re celebrating our 56th annual National Salvation Army Week this May 10-16, and we’ve got some fun events planned. We’ll be sure to tell you more about them soon, but this is where we talk about homelessness in our city. So we’ll start there…at the big finish!

We’re wrapping up the week by having a picnic with a purpose. Join us on Friday, May 14 (10am-2pm) at Veteran’s Memorial Plaza for our 2nd annual ‘Eat Outside the Box’ picnic to end homelessness. We had a really great turnout last year and we’re hoping to continue to spread the word about our Homelessness Bites campaign. You can join the cause in two ways: Read more

Apple Fest – October 1, 2009

Join us for the 6th annual Apple Fest on Monument Circle, Thursday October 1.  The event supports Homelessness Bites, The Salvation Army’s campaign to end homelessness.

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.