All three clung to a core belief — no one in Johnson County should suffer from hunger.
The Rev. Roger Gifford, Eddy Teets and Karol Dougherty worked tirelessly to make sure there was an institution where people in need could come for help. Gifford and Teets helped establish the Interchurch Food Pantry in the early 1980s, and worked to see its success for years after. Dougherty was a co-manager of the pantry for six years, building it up to where it could support feeding more than 80,000 meals per month to food insecure households.
The community has lost their leadership, as Dougherty and Teets died in 2020, and Gifford died earlier this year. But their impact is evident in the thousands of families who are fed through the pantry.
“They were giants in their service to the community and especially to this food pantry. Thousands of people have had better lives because of them,” said Carol Phipps, executive manager of the Interchurch Food Pantry. “Their legacies shine bright. Their blessings live on.”
The Interchurch Food Pantry will honor the trio at this year’s Harvest Walk, a community fitness event that serves as the pantry’s main fundraiser. People will gather on Sunday at Grace United Methodist Church to take part in a three-mile walk, a one-mile walk or chair yoga.
Participants can take part in a healthy fitness activity, while fighting hunger at the same time, Phipps said. In doing so, they’ll be remembering the compassion that Dougherty, Teets and Gifford showed for their community.
“We wouldn’t be what we are and who we are today without them,” Phipps said.
The Interchurch Food Pantry has been a cornerstone of the Johnson County community for nearly 40 years.
Organizers put together a drive-through approach at the start of the coronavirus pandemic, and that method has helped increase efficiency and reach. In 2020, the food pantry distributed more provisions to 22% more households than in 2019. About 2.2 million pounds of food was provided to more than 25,000 households.
To maintain operations, the Interchurch Food Pantry relies on donations, both of food and money to purchase what they need. The Harvest Walk is their prime yearly fundraiser, Phipps said.
The Harvest Walk had its beginnings more than 30 years ago, when it was called the CROP Walk. The CROP Walk, traditionally on the first Sunday in October, was part of a worldwide fundraiser supporting Church World Services, a faith-based organization tackling hunger and poverty around the world.
Funds raised at the CROP Walk went to Church World Services, with part of the proceeds coming back to Johnson County to help the Interchurch Food Pantry and the rest going toward global hunger programs.
But in recent years, local participation waned, as churches focused more on other hunger missions they supported. So in 2017, organizers formed their own event, approaching the food pantry about keeping it alive.
“We’ve carried on the tradition. It’s a great way for people from across various churches and other parts of the community, to be together for a common cause,” Phipps said.
Every year, the Harvest Walk is a celebration of the people who support the food pantry. This year has special meaning, as organizers wanted to focus on Gifford, Teets and Dougherty.
When leaders in Johnson County were discussing ways to help the needy and address food insecurity, Gifford and Teets were at the forefront of organizing a way to provide food to the community. Gifford, pastor at First Christian Church in Bargersville, and Teets, who was active with his own congregation at First Baptist Church in Franklin and was chairman of the annual Good Cheer Fund food distribution, helped rally area churches to support the effort.
The first pantry opened in 1983 in the basement of First Baptist Church. Teets would volunteer at the pantry for more than 30 years, while Gifford helped organize the original CROP Walk, among many other duties for the food pantry.
“They had the vision of having one place where people who were food insecure could go to, instead of each church having their own little church or closet,” Phipps said.
Dougherty first became involved with the Interchurch Food Pantry in 2014. A longtime educator for Indianapolis Public Schools, she came to the food pantry after retirement. Her first role was as treasurer of the board of directors, but she soon transitioned into overseeing the pantry’s Saturday distribution.
Eventually, she became pantry manager for the Monday, Friday and Saturday operations.
“She gave of herself until her very last day,” Phipps said.
When people come out on Sunday for the Harvest Walk, they’ll have the option of walking a three-mile course or a one-mile course, both on paved pathways. Organizers have also planned chair yoga, so people of all abilities can participate, she said.
“Hopefully, we get a beautiful day when people can come out and get some exercise, while the funds go directly toward helping us purchase food and help all of the people that we do,” Phipps said.
