The Fishers Youth Association Program is serving between 600 and 700 kids throughout Fishers school districts with its summer meals program.
The organization is working in partnership with local businessman and FYAP board president Anderson Schoenrock, who bought the former Marsh store on 96th street in 2017 to expand his ecommerce business, Memory Ventures.
After setting up shop, Schoenrock realized he had some extra space in his store that could serve the community. So, he donated the space to help run the meals program and snack attack food pantry.
“I think you look at a community like Fishers, where it is on the more affluent end, and I just don’t think there’s any reason why we shouldn’t be allowing any kids in our community to go hungry for the summer,” Schoenrock said. “We have the means as a community to kind of wrap our arms around these kids and make sure they’re taken care of, and so I think it’s important that we do, because it’s the right thing to do.”
The meals program has grown exponentially since its creation in 2017, when it served only 185 kids. This year, families had the opportunity to sign up in the spring before the school year ended. Every participant gets a box once a week with enough perishable and nonperishable food to last that student through the week.
Ty Geric, a member of the FYAP board, said two early intervention advocates who work for the Hamilton County court system, Dee Chandler and Trisha Straus, help kids get on the right track and get them any help they need.
Geric said a common theme among kids referred to by their advocates is that they often have more than one need.
“I think our early intervention advocates would say that (the kids) may come to them with one issue that needs to be addressed but what the early intervention advocate finds is there are sometimes other fundamental issues that exist,” Geric said. “Maybe we can help connect them to those services, whether that be housing to eyeglasses to a number of different services.”
The FYAP’s annual fundraiser, hosted by Fishers Mayor Scott Fadness, will be at 7 p.m. Aug. 24 at the former Marsh building at 96th Street in Fishers. The event will include local food vendors, drinks and live music.