ON Dec. 11, 720 doz. HATCH eggs were delivered to Food Finders Food Bank of Lafayette, Ind., and Hoosier Hills Food Bank in Bloomington, Ind., after the two communities participated in a Twitter contest that raised awareness about the HATCH program.

With many holiday recipes calling for eggs, the absence of eggs in food banks is felt acutely during the holiday season. Eggs not only go into pumpkin pie recipes, but they are also a source of high-quality protein and nutrients.

HATCH the Holidays is an extension of the HATCH for Hunger program, which already has brought more than 104,000 eggs to food-insecure families in Indiana and is facilitating egg donations in grocery stores throughout Indiana.

HATCH for Hunger — a program run by Elanco Animal Health, a division of Eli Lilly & Co. — was launched this spring in partnership with Rose Acre Farms and The Kroger Co.

Thus far, HATCH — with the help of HATCH the Holidays donations — will be giving 412,080 eggs to families in Indiana, Illinois, Missouri, Michigan and Ohio this December.

"When we heard about HATCH, we were eager to get on campus and tell more people," said Katie Nobbe, vice president of community involvement for the Indiana University Panhellenic Council. "Helping people in our community to have access to proper nutrition, like the quality protein and nutrients eggs have, is a passion for many of our sororities on campus. HATCH the Holidays is a wonderful way we can give back to families in Bloomington this winter."

For this special #HATCHtheHolidays Twitter competition that took place during the Indiana University versus Purdue University football game in Lafayette, fans and friends competed virtually over the weekend of the game to win eggs for their local food bank. The school that received the most tweets using both #HATCHtheHolidays and the school's hashtag won the egg drop.

The Purdue community generated 702 total tweets versus Indiana University's 407 tweets. Because both universities had such a broad reach in promoting #HATCHtheHolidays, HATCH decided to thank both communities for their participation with an egg drop of 720 doz. eggs in each city.

"One in seven (Indiana residents) is food insecure, meaning they do not have access to enough nutritious food," said Katy O'Malley Bunder, chief executive officer and president of the Lafayette Food Finders Food Bank. "Our food bank serves more than 86,000 residents who currently struggle to know where their next meal will come from. Eggs are a nutritious product that everyone wants, but they are not often found in food pantries. We are so happy that HATCH is working to provide us with eggs for the holiday season and beyond so that we can help families access the nutritious food that they need."

Food Finders Food Bank and Hoosier Hills Food Bank will distribute eggs to more than 1,800 families in December.

Volume:87 Issue:48