MUNCIE, Ind. —
Lois Rockhill will soon retire as executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of East Central Indiana, but she’s not the only one full of memories of her 23 years there.
Many other people have their own.
The first time Nancy Vaughan met Rockhill was when she volunteered to sort food at the former Anderson warehouse shortly after Rockhill started her job in 1989.
“I will never forget that food sort because a tractor-trailer had wrecked somewhere on I-69,” said Vaughan, who is now the president of United Way of Madison County. “It was full of canned chickpeas. Our task was to sort through the salvageable cans of chickpeas.
“I didn’t know what you do with chickpeas other than use them in a salad bar,” Vaughan said.
Rockhill, though, was thrilled because the cans were an unexpected boost to the pantry — and chickpeas are full of protein, Vaughan said, chuckling.
After all those years collecting and distributing healthy food for food pantries, kitchens and shelters in eight counties, including Madison County, Rockhill, 68, has decided to retire on March 30. Her replacement, who has not been named, should be in place by June 1, she said.
The Anderson resident joined Second Harvest Food Bank in 1989, just five years after the organization was incorporated.
Rockhill, who had always worked in social work and human services field, got the job after answering a newspaper ad. She told herself she would give the job five years. Twenty-three years later, she is glad she stuck with it.
“It’s been challenging. It’s been fun. It’s been satisfying. The whole underlying purpose is to be of assistance to people who are really struggling.
“Another layer of that is that it’s been fun learning how to operate and run a business. It’s a charity, but it still has business aspects like balancing budgets and raising money.”
A lot has changed under Rockhill’s leadership. She has been with the organization while it moved from one Anderson location to another and then to its current spot in Delaware County.
The current facility is much larger than its first, and the services it provides have also grown.
In 1989, 450,000 pounds of food were distributed, she said. And that was a success.
Last year, Second Harvest distributed more than 9.5 million pounds of food and fed about 69,000 people in eight counties.
Rockhill said that Second Harvest’s success comes from the work and contributions of lots of people.
“There are people all through the communities we serve who had different parts — writing a check, giving food, advocating. That’s probably the most satisfying part, to see how our food bank can be a catalyst for people to take action on the difficult subject of hunger in a community, which is hard to accept. Once they know about it, people step up.”
Rockhill knows that her replacement will move the organization forward and continue to help people. And in the meantime, after stepping down, she plans on taking a road trip and camping across the country with her husband Erv and their grandchildren.
Vaughan has appreciated Lois’ devotion to Madison County, and said that whoever comes in will have big shoes to fill.
“Lois is just so totally mission-driven,” Vaughan said. “It’s going to be hard to imagine Second Harvest without her there. It’s hard for her to imagine not being there. She just has a passion to help people.”
Contact Melanie Hayes: 648-4250, melanie.hayes@heraldbulletin.com
What’s next
The job opening for executive director will soon be posted on Second Harvest Food Bank’s website, www.curehunger.org. A blog will also go up with Lois Rockhill and others posting their memories of the organization from the last 23 years.
