Cruising with compassion: Motorcycle club uses funds to support food pantry

Most weekends, members of the Circle City Indian Motorcycle Riders Group can be found cruising the roadways throughout Indiana.

But on Feb. 18, their engines were silent. Instead of satisfying their hunger for the open road, they were working to reduce food insecurity among local residents.

“We eliminate the need, obviously, but another goal is to change the culture of how people perceive or look at motorcycle groups,” said Alan Wright, president of the Circle City IMRG. “We’re ambassadors for the Indian Motorcycle brand, and we’re not looking for fights or being obnoxious, we’re here to help families as best we can.”

The Circle City IMRG teamed up with the I Care Food Pantry, a ministry of Second Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, to provide about $1,800 worth of food, hygiene items and home cleaning products. They dropped off the donation to the pantry on Feb. 18, helping to unload, sort and organize the items to serve the hungry in the community.

Their contribution serves as a bulwark against the flood of need the food pantry has been seeing, said Tim Conway, director of the food pantry.

“It’s wonderful. Our church has been very, very blessed because everyone in our church has bought into this, and it’s great to see groups like this help,” he said.

The I Care Food Pantry was formed in early 2021 at Second Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, a small, historic church of about 40 people located on the far east side of Johnson County.

Congregation members were moved by the helplessness their neighbors felt as they struggled with food insecurity, toilet paper shortages and other hardships during the COVID-19 pandemic.

The pantry, which is open on the second and fourth Fridays and Saturdays of the month, offers supplemental food assistance including nonperishable foods and limited toiletries and baby supplies. Depending on need and family size, participants are eligible for certain items.

People come in and get a “fresh bag” — filled with food such as milk, bread, eggs, cheese, lunch meat and other items. Laundry soap, dish soap, paper towels and toilet paper are also included in their package.

Then participants can choose from a variety of canned and non-perishable goods that suit their family.

“The food seems to be going a lot farther because they are getting what they want,” Conway said.

Being a small community church, the need the food pantry has seen has been modest. But more and more people have been coming in search of help.

The past few months, they’ve been averaging more than 30 families over the course of a Friday and Saturday, Conway said. Since the start of 2023, I Care has had 77 visitors to the pantry, serving food to more than 200 people.

“We’re starting to build up over the year,” he said. “Word of mouth is getting around. If one family member gets help, they’ll tell another family member.”

In light of the demand for food, the pantry is always looking for new ways to increase their supply. A volunteer with I Care helped connect them to the Circle City IMRG.

Quincy Crabb is a member of Second Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, an active participant with the food pantry as well as a part of the Circle City IMRG, the local chapter of the national Indian Motorcycle Riders Group. The club gathers motorcycle enthusiasts of all kinds to celebrate their love for riding; though many members have Indian motorcycles, those dedicated to other brands are also allowed to join.

“We’re basically a fun group that’s a bunch of motorcycle enthusiasts,” Wright said. “We enjoy riding and getting together as a group.”

As a nonprofit organization, the Circle City IMRG raises money throughout the year for its activities. At the end of the year, any remaining balance is donated to a local cause, Wright said.

Previously, they had given money and volunteered time to Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana, a major engine in the fight against hunger in 21 counties, including Johnson County.

Crabb suggested that this time around, the club give to the I Care Food Pantry instead.

“We made a decision and took a vote, and everyone decided to donate the money there and give some of our time there,” Wright said.

Reaching out to Conway and other food pantry officials, the club gauged what would help I Care the most. The best option was to buy canned food to distribute, Conway said.

So using approximately $1,300, the club spent the morning of Feb. 18 buying hundreds of canned food items for the pantry — enough to last about a month. Another $500 was spent on hygiene items and home cleaning supplies.

After purchasing the items, the club made their way to Second Mt. Pleasant Baptist Church, unloading everything and then helping organize it for clients that would be coming during the next session of the pantry.

They hope that their efforts make a bad situation a little bit better.

“Everything counts at this point,” Wright said.