Milk, juice, yogurt, fruits, vegetables, breakfast foods and Lunchables — seven pallets worth of food came to Brown County Friday night from Midwest Food Bank, and in less than three hours Monday, all of it was gone.

About 160 families came through the pop-up food pantry at the Hard Truth Hills loading dock. The first hour was reserved for people who are now out of work during the COVID-19 shutdown of many service industry businesses.

The donation came about from a phone call which TRIAD placed, as TRIAD regularly visits that food bank to serve its senior and shut-in clients. A TRIAD volunteer had told Midwest that if it ever had extra food, Brown County could use it. After Indianapolis-area restaurants closed to in-person dining, Midwest found itself in that position, and told TRIAD that if someone from Brown County could get there within the next couple hours, it had a lot of produce to share.

Kim Robinson, with the Brown County YMCA and Brown County COAD, called upon Clint Hammes, who works for Big Woods/Quaff ON!/Hard Truth Hills, to see if he could use his truck, and he enlisted a co-worker with another company vehicle.

Hard Truth Hills cleared space in its cooler that night, which is normally stocked with beer, and volunteers organized a drive-through food pantry for Monday.

Many other people and agencies benefited from this unexpected donation.

Food for 35 families also was taken to St. Vincent de Paul.

Some produce was taken to Ginger Knight at Johnny’s Grub to Go to help her with the free meals she is offering out of her food truck.

The Brown County jail kitchen received a couple packages of hotel-grade scrambled eggs.

Mother’s Cupboard community kitchen received frozen potatoes, hotel pastries, cabbage, slaw and lettuce.

Twenty-five cases of single-serve apple juice cartons were taken to Brown County schools, which are doing daily meal distributions.

And even local chickens benefited, receiving shredded lettuce and produce that was past its prime.