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Last night, WISH-TV8 in Indianapolis aired a story about the increase in request for assistance at The Salvation Army in Greenwood.  But Salvation Army service centers throughout the state are seeing similar increases and are also running out of resources in order to meet the increased need.

You can help.  Your generosity can help put food on a table for a family who can’t do so for themselves for the very first time.  To find a Salvation Army near you, visit our Locations Page.  You can contact us and make food or financial donation.  You can also make an Online Donation.  Your donation will be put to use right away to help those in need.

If you would like to become a volunteer for The Salvation Army, contact Elizabeth Wilhelm at 317-224-1010.

Indy took a big ole ‘bite out of homelessness’ last night at BD’s Mongolian Grill as about 60 diners showed up to watch our Guest Grillers serve up some stir-fry and entertainment. Thanks to all our Guest Grillers: the fabulous folks from WISH TV-8…Andi Hauser (Indy Style), Steve Bray (Chief Meteorologist) and Ashley Adamson (Sports Reporter) as well as our Homelessness Bites spokesperson and i94′s Marco Show co-host, Mel McMahon and our good friend Dave “the King” Wilson who donned aprons and learned how to ‘go mongo’. We even got our Salvation Army Indiana Divisional Commander, Major Richard Amick behind the grill with WISH TV-8′s Chief Meteorologist, Steve Bray to take a turn at the grill! All busy, busy people who heard about those 1,500 kids who spend their nights on the streets of Indy and stepped up to do something about it.

And we just can’t say enough about the amazing, fabulous team at BD’s Mongolian Grill in Castleton. The place has really hoppin’ and the servers and grillers kept up with the crowd. It was a fun, relaxed atmosphere and the food is fantastic! We appreciate how easytheir team made it to kick off National Salvation Army Week.

But the fun’s not over yet! Today, we’ll be down at the Indiana War Memorial Museum for the dedication of the WWI Salvation Army Doughnut Girls exhibit at 1:30. Thursday is our Dine to Donate event at the Castleton Max & Erma’s (go here to print the flyer you’ll need to present so 20% of your bill will support our mission). And then the big finale, ‘Eat Outside the Box’ picnic to end homelessness on Friday at Veteran’s Memorial Plaza from 10am-2pm. 

Speaking of Friday’s event, booth space is still available if your business or non-profit would like to join us. Just $50 will put you in front of about 500 prospects and behind a great cause. To learn more, go here or give Kristen a call at 224-1019.

Monday, May 10 – Dine to Donate at BD’s Mongolian Grill (3838 E. 82nd Street, Castleton) $15 for all-you-can-eat stir-fry, soup and salad. Click here for more info.

Tuesday, May 11 – WWI Salvation Army Doughnut Girls exhibit dedication, Indiana War Memorial (431 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis)

Thursday, May 13 – Dine to Donate at Max & Erma’s (5899 E. 86th Street, Castleton) 4-10pm. 20% of dine-in and carry out proceeds will benefit The Salvation Army. Don’t forget to take the flyer with you (we only get credit for your meal if you present the flyer).

Friday, May 14 – Eat Outside the Box (Veteran’s Memorial Plaza, 550 N. Meridian Street, Indianapolis) 10am-2pm. Just $5 for a hot dog or hamburger, chips and a drink! [Thanks to our partners for donating lunch: All-American Picnic Company for the 'dogs and burgers, GFS for the chips, Noodles and Company for the water and Ricker's for the soft drinks] Come enjoy lunch and throw a game of cornhole for a great cause – helping Indy’s homeless and abused moms and kids.

It’s not too late  – if you’re interested in planning an event or getting the folks at the office involved, give Kristen a call at 224-1019.

Can’t make it, but want to donate to support The Salvation Army? You can do that here. Thanks!

Reach USA/ValPak and Jim Brantley – We honored them for helping us get the word out. In our efforts to use our donor support to do the most good, The Salvation Army uses less than 1/2% of our budget to advertise and market our organization and services. Reach USA/ValPak works with us to get the most out of those dollars, offering reduced rate and sometimes even free space in their publications. And in 2009, Reach USA/ValPak was our WIBC Radiothon Phone Bank sponsor – donating their dollars and their employees’ time answering phones and helping out at Emmis. Jim offers his time and talent serving on our Advisory Board and Development Committee as well. Thanks, Reach USA/ValPak!

Two Men and a Truck and Drew Werling – We honored Two Men for all of the support their offer by transporting coat and toy donations during our annual Coats for Kids and WISHTree/Angel Tree collection drives. That’s no small task to pick up thousands of coats and toys from locations all over the city and get them efficiently to us to distribute to thousands of families in need. Two Men is also a title sponsor of our Homelessness Bites campaign for homeless and abused women and children. Drew believed in us when the campaign started and has supported us every step of the way. And we can’t forget the dozens of boxes they’ve donated to ship Operation Compassion care packages to our troops serving overseas. Thanks, Two Men!

And finally, a special thanks to our Advisory Board Chair, Diane Nichols (Perkins Nichols Media) for her tireless efforts to promote the brand and cause of The Salvation Army.

We are so appreciative that we could share the evening with friends from Kroger, WISH TV-8, the Northwest Indianapolis Kiwanis and Tuchman Cleaners as well. Thanks for taking the time to see how your support changes lives.

If you’d like to partner with The Salvation Army, give Kristen a call at 224-1019.

The bike enthusiasts brought with them over 700 toys which will be distributed to children in need during The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree distribution at the Indiana State Fairgrounds in a few weeks. Last year, over 13,000 toys were collected and distributed to families in need through Salvation Army toy programs.

The organizer of the Circle City Toy Run, Ron “Bumber” Herron says that he runs the annual event in honor of his Mother, Dorothy Herron, who was big supporter of The Salvation Army. Captain Marcos Ramirez expressed his gratitude for the generous gift as he spoke to the participants. “Your generosity is going to make a difference in hundreds of children’s lives. You’ve warmed my heart today,” said Captain Ramirez.

You can find out more about The Salvation Army’s Angel Tree and WISHtree programs by visiting IndyWISHTree.org.

 If you’re in downtown Indy this afternoon, you’ll notice it sounds a lot more like Christmas. Today is Celebrity Bell Ringing Day in front of Emmis studios on Monument Circle. Some of our more recognizable friends are giving an hour or more of their time today to ring bells and collect some of the first donations of the season.

So far today, we’ve had the priviledge of ringing with some of the lovely Colts cheerleaders, WISH TV-8 personalities, our WIBC Radiothon Chair (and Pacers’ own) Quinn Buckner, Darth Vadar, Boomer, Trucky and Big-E-Foot. We’ve also had some fun previewing tomorrow’s Turkey Bowling event with GFS Marketplace.

Speaking of turkey bowling, if you’re out and about on the west side tomorrow, stop by the GFS Marketplace on Rockville Road for their Thanksgiving sampling day and Turkey Bowling. We’ll be there and we hope you’ll join us in packing the pantries at our community centers.

WISH TV-8 anchorman, Eric Halvorson kicked off his fifth season as Chair at our Tree of Lights ceremony this morning. Community leaders and volunteers gathered to show support in raising this year’s campaign goal of $3 million – the largest goal ever set by The Salvation Army in Central Indiana. That’s an ambitious goal in a tough economic climate, but with requests for assistance soaring, we will need every last dollar to continue to provide food, shelter, utility and holiday assistance to our neighbors in need.

Walmart has generously agreed to once again serve as our Tree of Lights tree sponsor. Also joining us at this morning’s kick-off event was our 15th annual WIBC Radiothon team of Radiothon Chair and Pacers’ VP of Communications, Quinn Buckner and Terri Stacy and Joe Staysniak of the WIBC Morning Show. And special music was provided by the St. Richard’s singers and The Salvation Army Brass Ensemble. Our Divisional Commanders Majors Richard and Vicki Amick encouraged each of us to help our communities in need – if just one in ten people in Marion County could donate just $30 each, we’d collect that $3 million by Christmas! Now that’s not so unattainable.

We’d like to thank our corporate partners for their attendance and support this holiday season – Jerome Rauch – Walmart, John Elliott – Kroger and Jay Ricker – Ricker’s Oil and am/pm convenience stores and Two Men and A Truck. Thanks to Dunkin’ Donuts and GFS Marketplace for providing coffee and hot cocoa to all. Of course, we couldn’t have a tree lighting ceremony without our partners at Barth Electric. Thanks to the folks at WISH TV-8 for loaning Eric to us and for hosting and promoting the WISHTree toy collections throughout the season and at the December 13 Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium.

Of course, this is just the beginning of the season for us. If you’d like to involve your business or organization, we’d love to have you join us! WIBC Radiothon hourly sponsorships and in-kind sponsorships are still available at WIBCRadiothon.org. Or, you can become a toy collection site and host a collection box – last year we were able to play Santa to over 900 families because of donations collected in offices and store fronts across Central Indiana! Ring a bell, host an on-line red kettle or just drop a few bucks in the kettle as you go by. With a $3 million goal, we can use all the help we can get!

We began accepting applications for Christmas assistance at the beginning of November. This year, we saw a 150% increase in requests in the first day! We need your help to meet the need. In 2008, we were able to help over 900 families through the support of our community. With so many more in need, we know our goal has to be higher – you can help.

We’ll be collecting toys throughout the city from now until December 14. You can also host a collection drive at your office or storefront. Just give Crissy a call at 224-1017 and we’ll get a collection box to you right away! You can also bring a toy to the WIBC Radiothon on December 12 on Monument Circle. Or even drop off a toy on the way into the December 13 Colts game at Lucas Oil Stadium. (The folks at WISH TV-8 will be passing out Colts collector posters to all who donate that day.)

If everyone gives what they have, no one goes without!

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.