Food pantry's mission hampered as thieves target their truck - WTHR

Food pantry's mission hampered as thieves target their truck - WTHR

INDIANAPOLIS (WTHR) - If you're struggling and need food, help is as close as The Lord's Pantry at Anna's House on Elder Avenue.

"Any type of help you need, they try and assist you in any way that they can," said Gale Johnson.

Johnson knows. Food from the west side facility has helped her feed her family over the years.

"You'd be surprised at how many people come here and where they come from," she said. "This really helps out a whole lot of people."

The pantry feeds about 200 families on Saturday mornings, distributing fresh produce, meat and non-perishable items.

Volunteers gather those goods from across the city, loading it all into the pantry's truck.

"It's a big, white 14-foot Ford box truck. It's hard to miss," said Julie Malloy, who has helped run the pantry as the executive director and now serves on its board.

Malloy noticed the truck missing when she pulled up to the pantry Monday morning.

The pantry has security cameras but they hadn't been working for the past two weeks.

"There were no tracks in the snow so it had to have happened somewhere between 2 pm on Saturday and late last night before it started snowing," Malloy said.

The truck, with an Indiana license plate of TK255MVP, was last seen at the facility on Saturday.

Molloy reported the theft to police and to the non-profit organization's insurance company.

"Quite honestly, it breaks my heart that somebody thought they needed this more than we did," said Molloy.

"How selfish can you be, because everybody knows that that truck picks up everything and brings it here for the people on Saturday so that they can have the things that they need to take home," said Johnson.

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Molloy said someone has already stepped forward, offering use of their delivery truck this week so the pantry can open Saturday morning as usual. The loan certainly helps, but the need a long-term solution

"We've got to acquire a truck," said Molloy. "One way or another, we've got to acquire a truck."

She said she's praying, somehow, the Lord will provide.