Due to an increase in non-governmental donations, the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana were able to distribute over four-point-one million meals to almost 100 food pantries, soup kitchens, and after school programs throughout Lake and Porter Counties in 2012. Megan Sikes, Communication/Advocacy Manager for the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, says the 2012 donations held steady with where they were in 2011, in light of the sizable decrease in the amount of food received from the federal government, and could not have been possible without the 17.74-percent increase in donations by companies and the general public within the Region, which allowed them to distribute almost five-millions pounds of food.
The Food Bank of Northwest Indiana reports 42-percent of their clients do not qualify government aid, and ask that legislators take into account the real-world impact if funding to programs like the Emergency Food Assistance Program is cut.

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