Strack & Van Til partners with Food Bank of Northwest Indiana to pack Thanksgiving meals for families in need

At Strack & Van Til, the mission is to create an experience that includes exceptional service, clean stores, product variety, and solutions to meet the needs of customers in the communities it serves. The organization embodies all four of these qualities, especially the latter, during the holiday season every year. On Tuesday, November 11, Strack & Van Til partnered with the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana to pack meals for families in need ahead of Thanksgiving.

President and CEO of Strack & Van Til Jeff Strack understands the importance of supporting local families in need during the holiday season.

“There’s always a need at this time of year for people struggling with food insecurity,” Strack said. “It’s always been Strack & Van Til’s place to help step up and support the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana in their goal of feeding people. Year after year, we step up and provide meals at Thanksgiving time for over 100 food pantries that the Food Bank serves here in Northwest Indiana.”

Every holiday season, Strack & Van Til runs a fundraising campaign called the Checkout Challenge. This campaign is an initiative where cashiers at Strack & Van Til stores invite customers to round up on their purchases. The campaign is built upon small donations, but they truly add up to create a significant contribution to fighting hunger across Northwest Indiana.

“We have a normal yearly round-up, where customers can round up their change to the nearest dollar and support the Food Bank,” Strack said. “Besides the holiday meals, we’ve also stepped up and supported additional mobile markets throughout the community to find additional ways to partner with them.”

While this meal packing event also takes place during Christmas and Easter, the event truly embodies what Thanksgiving is all about.

“We’re thankful for having such a great group of employees and customers that support us daily,” Strack said. “We sell products within our stores, but what we’re trying to do here is help the community be a better place to work and live. Being in the food business, there’s nothing more important to us than helping people who are food insecure to enjoy a good meal. Working with the Food Bank to find these solutions to help people become sufficient on their own is amazing.”

Joe Stupka, chief operating officer at Strack & Van Til, considers this event to be one of the best ways that the organization creates a positive impact on local communities.

“We know how crucial it is to have a strong community,” Stupka said. “There’s a lot of uncertainty around food, and we’re here to help in any way we can. This is one of our favorite days because we get a lot of people from our stores and corporate offices out here to pack 2,000 meals for the people of Northwest Indiana.”

This traditional partnership with the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana has changed thousands of families’ lives, especially during the holiday season. Strack & Van Til hopes to continue this trend of positive change for many years to come.

“We’ve worked with different organizations throughout the community, and this one is a great collaboration,” Stupka said. “Not only do we have the Checkout Challenge, but people walk in the door of our stores and give their change.”

Being in the food business, solving the problems of food insecurity is a part of Strack & Van Til’s identity as a provider. When the entire organization can join forces to find the answers, it makes the Region a better place to be.

“There’s nothing like coming together before Thanksgiving to do some volunteer work for a good cause,” Strack said. “Being involved in the community to make a difference is the biggest thing for us. We’re going to continue to look for ways to keep making it happen.”

For more information on Strack & Van Til, you can visit strackandvantil.com.