A Note from the Midwest Food Bank-John Whitaker Provided By Tom Holtz

John Whitaker is the director and founder of the Midwest Food Bank.  Unlike Gleaners, we do not have to pay for any food that we receive from them.  With their help, we were able to provide food and assistance to 1753 families and over 7025 family members from babies through elders in their nineties.  We have been with them since 2008.  John was a guest speaker at one of our Men’s Breakfast events last year.  It is a very Christ-centered organization

-Tom Holtz

Praise be to the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ!
In His great mercy He has given us new birth into a living hope
through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead. (NIV, 1 Peter 1:3)

As we enter our eighth year of operation at the Midwest Indianapolis Division, it is joy to look back at God's faithfulness and His hand of protection on the work to which He has called us. Every year is a new adventure and brings new steps of faith as we reach out to tens of thousands in Indiana who fall into the ranks of the food insecure. In the past seven years, by the grace of God, we have been able to distribute over $100 million of food and relief to our neighbors in their time of need. To break it down further this amounts to about 50 million pounds of food or 25 million tons which is the equivalent of over 35 million meals! Over the years, many have asked, how do you do it? My answer is always the same, we do it by following God's lead day by day, by following His example, and by not withholding the good we have to share with those to whom it is due as outlined in Proverbs 3:27. We do all this so that God may receive glory, honor, and praise, but as a result we, ourselves, are filled with joy as God has promised to those who obey and serve Him (Heb. 12:1-3)!

Every year is different with exciting opportunities for growth in this ministry through our donors, staff, and volunteers.   You are receiving this because you are part of what God is doing at Midwest Food Bank! Without faithfully stepping out to give, serve, and sacrifice for the glory of God, the lives of those we are called to serve would be filled with hopelessness and despair. In giving and serving you are demonstrating an unconditional love for others who through these acts of kindness are being made aware, through our faith-based agencies, of the living hope that only faith in Jesus Christ can give. Our prayer for 2016 is that God might allow us to distribute over $27 million of hope and relief to those in need in our Hoosier communities while growing our reach through new partnerships, and giving more emphasis to the rural and under-served areas of our state. Please pray for us as we seek new opportunities to do the most good!

Many things change from year to year but our hope this coming year is not based on something fading or inconsistent but in a living unchanging God and a lifetime of hope in Jesus Christ our Lord. Our staff, our board, and I wish you a joyful new year full of hope, and thank you again for your prayers, support and encouragement in 2015.

Warmly,
John Whitaker