Elkhart County, Indiana has been especially hit hard by the economic crisis. This county has been hit with a staggering 18.3% unemployment rate. People are desperate for work, and families are going hungry. Fortunately for these residents, there are people who truly care. 300 Feed the Children volunteers banded together to help distribute food to 5,200 families.

The event, taking place at the Concord Mall, is the one of the many stops Feed the Children’s “Feeding Americans Emergency Caravan”, a nationwide campaign to combat hunger during the recession. This Feed the Children project is quite literally a caravan of semi-trailers going across the country distributing food.

In Elkhart, Feed the Children distributed $2.1 million of food. Grateful Indianans lined up for free canned and baked food, candy, and Avon products. The queue stretched across the mall parking lot and onto nearby roads. A total of 15 “caravans” supplied the food.

Gene Troyer, an administrative pastor, said the day started out with “a mad rush. We opened at 12. It was solid for an hour.” Troyer said the people receiving the food weren’t the only ones blessed. “It’s been a really good experience for us, the volunteerism,” he said. Several of the volunteers were unemployed themselves. “I know of the need in the community,” Randy Kiefer said. “I was part of the Monaco layoff. I know what it’s like.”

Feed the Children founder and president Larry Jones attended the event with Lakewood Church, Houston pastor Joel Osteen. “When I heard that President Obama had been here three times and that you had the fastest growing unemployment, I’m praying that you are the fastest coming down from that,” Larry Jones said. “What we want people to know is that in this time of despair, there is hope. People haven’t forgotten you.”

Elkhart County, known as the “RV capital of the world,” is a symbol of the economic downturn. As sales for motor homes plummeted, factories have been shut down, throwing many people out of work. Dealerships have also been hit hard.

Other cities on Feed the Children’s caravan itinerary include Wilmington, Ohio, Greenville, Mississippi, Chicago, and New York City.

Article Source: Food caravan stops in hard-hit Ind. county (MSNBC)

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• Feed the Children in Wilmington, Ohio.