AUDIO: Gleaners of Indiana Sending Relief Supplies to...

Source: The Washington Post / Getty

INDIANAPOLIS — It’s a life or death situation and time is of the essence. Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana is on the move, sending supplies to areas hit hardest by Hurricane Helene.

“This is as bad a disaster, I think, we’ve seen since Hurricane Katrina,” says Joe Slater, Chief Operating Officer of Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana. The organization began relief efforts last Friday, sending out seven truckloads of food and other supplies to Georgia as Helene was still covering the region.

Since then, Gleaners and the Feeding America network are prepping food and supplies and sending them out to places like the Atlanta Food Bank, Second Harvest of East Tennessee, and the western part of North Carolina. Helene had already killed dozens of people before hitting North Carolina, but once it hit, whole towns were wiped out and dozens more people lost their lives.

FULL INTERVIEW WITH JOE SLATER, COO OF GLEANERS FOOD BANK OF INDIANA:

Slater says speed is of the utmost importance, “the ability to quickly move inventory into place where it is needed is just vital in these kinds of situations.”

Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana is sending out prebuilt disaster relief boxes packed with ready to eat foods like protein bars, pop top meals, shelf stable milk, peanut butter, cereal, canned tuna, chicken and much more.

Slater says if you’re interested in helping with donations, turn your attention to the Feeding America network.

Donating there will ensure your contributions get exactly where they need to go.

Sign up for the WIBC Newsletter to receive the latest news updates!