The meal program called Summer Servings offers free, nutritious meals to children 18 and younger during the summer months.

As part of WFYI's series this month marking a year of pandemic, this reflection from President and CEO at Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana John Elliott explores the year in food assistance.

Indianapolis city leaders recently approved the restructuring of local systems to better address food access.

St. Vincent de Paul Boulevard Place Food Pantry will double the size of its building, at 42nd Street. It will also receive renovations. The pantry saw an estimated 30 percent increase in out-of-boundary shoppers during the COVID-19 crisis -- people living outside their typically serviced neighborhoods.

The state says people don't have to do anything to get the benefits; they should have received a new card in the mail or had them added to their existing food stamps card.

A group of Indianapolis nonprofits on Indianapolis' southside says the impact of the pandemic is still an issue for food insecurity in central Indiana.

Hoosiers Feeding the Hungry in Garrett has an abundance of pigs sent to it from farmers because the meat processing plants it partners with are either closed or slowed down production due to the virus outbreak.

Food banks, pantries and other meal services are ramping up to help as the number of people in food lines grows, right when people are no longer allowed to stand in line.

About one in every five Marion County residents live in a food desert -- an estimated 196,000 people in the county.

Democratic incumbent Joe Hogsett and Republican challenger Jim Merritt's first face to face mayoral debate focused on fighting poverty and raising the minimum wage.