ELKHART CO. — You may be surprised to learn there are 48 different agencies in Elkhart County that provide food for the needy — everything from food pantries to soup kitchens and church organizations. There is an effort to bring those groups together to form a countywide network to meet the growing demand of those in need.

“Everyone will benefit from this if it works,” said Dean Preheim-Bartel of Church Community Services.

By yourself you can accomplish only so much. But as a group, so much more can be accomplished.

It appears church and community groups throughout Elkhart County may be taking that approach in order to meet a huge increase in the demand for food.

The United Way created the idea of a group called the Elkhart County Food Network.

“You know it takes all of us,” Preheim-Bartel continued. “We sometimes say it takes a village to raise a child. I think it takes a village to take care of each other. We really have to do it collectively to make it work. We can do that more effectively as a network rather than a single agency.”

“Since we work together, kind of ad hoc, this organization helps us communicate better so we know what each others’ needs are and we can help each other a little bit better, too,” explained Ross Swihart with Faith Mission of Elkhart.

Once the initial agencies can set up the groundwork and lay the foundation for the food network, they plan to expand to other social service agencies around the area.

“It's at the early stages and we're going to take this a step at a time,” Preheim-Bartel added.

Elkhart's Guidance Ministries is taking one of those steps. Demand for food at their pantries has doubled.

“When they get it up and rolling then the other food pantries and soup kitchens in the area will be included,” said Lori King with Guidance Ministries. “We need to be looking at what each agency needs and then share that.”

“We want to build up momentum in getting food coming in,” Swihart said.

The Elkhart County Community Foundation is also trying to help the agencies. It recently allocated $50,000 for an assistance program to help area pantries buy food at the Northern Indiana Food Bank.