The Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center will hold a fundraiser May 2 to help purchase a building for a new food pantry for West Indianapolis and neighboring communities.
Mary Rigg wants to purchase a building at 2102 W. Morris St. about a block away and then convert it into the food pantry.
The center gives away about 20,000 pounds of food every month from Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana and the Midwest Food Bank of Indiana, but Mary Rigg President Heather Pease said demand continues to increase due to rising food prices and the cost of housing.
The center said it saw a 27% increase in food pantry demand between 2023 and 2024 and is on pace to exceed that growth this year.
A new pantry would allow the center to serve more people and would potentially unlock new sources of funding, such as the U.S. Department of Agriculture’s Emergency Food Assistance Program.
“Our goal is to call attention to the food pantry and the food insecurity that exists in the neighborhood, and also to uplift West Indianapolis and Mary Rigg and all of the incredible things happening here,” Pease said.
Pease said the event, dubbed an Un-Gala, will be “everything a gala is not.”
“Wear whatever you want,” Pease said. “We’re gonna have simple decor, simple food, but a really, really amazing program.”
If you go
The Mary Rigg Neighborhood Center, 1920 W Morris St., will hold its inaugural Un-Gala fundraising event from 11:30 a.m. to 1 p.m. May 2 at the center’s gym.
Tickets begin at $100. For more information, head to the Un-Gala event site. To make a donation, visit the center’s donation page. To set up a recurring donation, call 463-900-4740.
Mirror Indy, a nonprofit newsroom, is funded through grants and donations from individuals, foundations and organizations.
Mirror Indy reporter Enrique Saenz covers west Indianapolis. Contact him at 317-983-4203 or [email protected]. Follow him on Bluesky at @enriquesaenz.bsky.social.
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