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As a subscriber you can listen to articles at work, in the car, or while you work out. Subscribe NowFishers-based Sahm’s Restaurant Group has teamed with OneAmerica Financial Partners Inc. and the not-for-profit food relief organization Second Helpings to launch a meal-preparation operation at OneAmerica’s downtown Indianapolis headquarters.
Sahm’s, which operates 15 local restaurants and brewpubs, has converted its Sahm’s Cafeteria inside OneAmerica Tower into a space to prepare and deliver meals to local seniors and families in need. The first deliveries happened on Friday.
OneAmerica said it has provided a grant to help fund the effort and Sahm’s is using the food it already had on hand at its restaurants. OneAmerica declined to disclose how much it has donated to the cause.
Organizers are also seeking outside contributions, including donations of food-packaging materials.
“We are proud to join Sahm’s and Second Helpings to kick-start these initial efforts and encourage others to come forward to sustain this important work,” OneAmerica Vice President of Enterprise Communications and Community Affairs Jen Pittman said in a written statement.
Ed Sahm, founder and owner of Sahm’s Restaurant Group and Big Lug Family Restaurant Group, said the program will expand if financial support allows.
“We believe that we can eventually prepare as many as 10,000 nutritious, delicious, ready-to-eat meals a day down the road, but we are going to rely on the support of the community,” Sahm said in a written statement.
On Friday, Sahm’s employees prepared 1,100 meals for delivery to Indy Parks and Recreation and to residents of three downtown Indianapolis Housing Authority properties: John J. Barton Towers, Richard G. Lugar Towers and Barton Annex.
The OneAmerica location is functioning as a satellite kitchen for Second Helpings’ primary operation at 1121 Southeastern Ave. Second Helpings typically prepares and delivers 4,500 meals per day to senior centers, shelters and children’s programs throughout central Indiana.
The OneAmerica cafeteria and its 12,000-square-foot kitchen offer enough space for workers to practice social distancing while they prepare the meals, OneAmerica said.
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So impressed to see Sahm’s and One America firm an agile and necessary scaled -up delivery of services to the city’s most vulnerable . Amazing what can happen in a couple weeks! Thanks Sahm’s and One America !
Self-organizing at the local level. Wonderful to know our community can step up.