This story was originally published by Capital B Gary.
By Rayonna Burton-Jernigan
Capital B Gary
April 22, 2025
On a windy Sunday morning this month in downtown Gary, families lined up outside the Family Life Community Center. They weren’t there for church, but for nourishment.
“Number 1!” “Numbers 25-30!” a volunteer shouted into a bullhorn, his voice cutting through the jazz music that filled the air. The parking lot next to the Family Life Community Center, located at 555 Massachusetts St., was packed with pallets and tables loaded with boxes of food, shelves of canned goods and perishables, and volunteers eager to hand out as much as they could to the community.
With nearly one-fourth of Gary and East Chicago designated as a food desert and more than 69,000 Lake County residents facing food insecurity, including 27% of Black residents, grassroots efforts like the Gary Food Collective have become critical lifelines.
LaJuan Clemons knows this firsthand.
He walked around the space where he hosts his weekly community food distributions, greeting people as they arrived, asking questions, and directing people to the line that stretched down the block.
“We just do it because this is what you’re supposed to do,” he said.
Since founding the Gary Food Collective in 2020, Clemons has worked to build a sustainable food system and continue his mission to reduce food insecurity in the city. The community-led initiative has grown into one of the region’s most robust and consistent food distributions, with a single Facebook post drawing hundreds of Gary residents.
According to the USDA, more than 47 million people lived in food-insecure households in 2023, including more than 7 million children. That same year, Feeding America estimates, more than 50 million people turned to food assistance for extra help.
And that makes what Clemons does more impactful for him.
“This is about more than just food,” he said. “It’s about building a sustainable, self-reliant community that thrives together.”
Earlier this year, the food pantry was awarded a combined $85,000 from the city and Legacy Foundation, a Lake County community foundation that supports local nonprofits, to help feed over 8,000 community members. The funding aims to help Clemons expand the co-op program across the city by assisting other individuals in launching and sustaining their own co-ops, while still providing residents with access to fresh, affordable food.
With the funds, Clemons said he was able to purchase a box truck that allows him to get more food for his distributions. Much of the food sourced for the distributions comes from the Food Bank of Northwest Indiana, as well as from Meijer and Target locations across the region.
Wanting residents to have a variety of options, he goes the extra mile to get meat from local butcher shops, products specifically for seniors or those recovering from surgery, and toiletries or other household essentials that might be needed for every member.
“This is so powerful,” one community member said as he watched people walk through the line, grabbing everything from canned green beans to a frozen ham that could feed a family for a few days.
Clemons’ giveaways and work with the co-op are a family affair, as his wife, father, children, siblings, and over 40 volunteers come to help him give food to those in the community whenever needed.
“Food is so expensive, and people need stuff,” said volunteer Kimeka Parker, explaining why she got involved in the co-op. “There is a great need for food from people, and I like helping them.”
Positioned at the cold-food table, Parker offered bags of frozen chicken drumsticks, pizza, ham, bacon, or other fresh frozen meat items. At the last stop in the distribution, she helped people choose items that could easily cost more than $10 each.
“All these stores that have this overage of food, they end up throwing this stuff away,” she said as she assisted several people in deciding on their meats. “So if a lot of nonprofits get out here and start getting some of this food, we can help a lot more people.”
“Why throw it away when it can help members of the community?” she added.
Parker emphasized the importance of such a program for the community, especially for older citizens who cannot travel to surrounding areas to visit grocery stores or afford services like Instacart.
“I feel like they need more programs like this to help community members because there is not a lot of availability with stores, and a lot of people don’t have transportation to go,” Annie Moore said as she carried her two boxes of food to her car.
Having driven several people with her who are in need, Moore said she understands that many people don’t have options like they should in the community.
“This place is usually within 10 to 12 blocks of a person living over here,” she said on the convenience of it being in the center of the city. “The program is feeding a lot of families who don’t have a lot of income, and it’s helping them with the in-between.”
The distribution on a recent Sunday was intended to serve only 90 people, but they served food to over 150 people who stood and waited for it.
Neither Clemons nor any of the other volunteers wanted to turn away anyone. Especially Earnestine Carey, who is following in his footsteps.
“I’ve always liked being a part of food distribution and giveaways,” Carey said. Years ago, Clemons introduced her to a place in Joliet, Illinois, where she could get food and bring it back to the community to give away. “People always need, and this is something I’ve always wanted to do.”
Carey stood at the front of the distribution line, handing out fruit and directing people where to go.
“Although I know people get food stamps and other assistance, I know how much groceries cost,” she said as the distribution wrapped up for the day. “It’s not enough.”
The need was evident from the dozens of people who showed up, from teenagers who attended in place of their parents to seniors who carpooled so they could have fresh food for the week. With a lack of grocery stores and a lack of interest from corporations in helping community members, the need for change has been prominent within the community.
Like Clemons, Carey has secured a building that will serve as another co-op distribution center, located near 21st and Broadway, where people can come and get supplies and food. In this fight against food scarcity in the city, she’s trying to do what she can to help out.
“That’s what we want people to see: that we can place a general store in your community, in every district, where the food is pretty much free to you all, but just invest in it so that it’s sustainable,” Clemons said.
To find out more about the co-op and when distributions are happening in town, visit the Family Life Community Center Facebook page.
Rayonna Burton-Jernigan is the Business and Economic Development reporter for Capital B Gary. More by Rayonna Burton-Jernigan
