Food for the Soul
ASG’s Logan Metzger wins recognition for his commitment to community service
ASG’s Logan Metzger has been named a finalist for the United Way of Central Indiana’s Volunteer of the Year award. On February 22, he’ll be recognized at the United Way’s annual ELEVATE award ceremony, which honors the Indianapolis community’s rising philanthropists and dedicated volunteers.
Logan, who has been volunteering with Second Helpings, a hunger relief agency, since 2013, also serves as secretary of the organization’s board of directors.
“We encourage our team members to follow their passions,” said ASG Principal and Senior Consultant Doug Koeneman. “Logan lives our ASG value of enriching the lives of others by working with Second Helpings to provide hunger relief in our community. We’re proud of him!”
Read this Q&A to learn more about Logan’s work.
Why did you choose to volunteer at Second Helpings?
When I decided to start volunteering, I had a special interest in the food scene. I’d heard about Second Helpings and decided to give it a shot. I’ve been volunteering there ever since.
What kind of volunteer work do you do for Second Helpings?
I mostly volunteer in the hunger relief kitchen and with special events. When I work in the kitchen, I often chop and prepare tubs of vegetables or stir massive amounts of food in the tabletop-sized skillets. The hunger relief program cooks and delivers an estimated 5,000 meals daily and delivers them to 100+ agencies around the state. If there’s any food that can’t be used it’s redistributed to other community partners. It takes a lot of work to prepare all that food and get it out the door. I’ve also had the privilege of serving on the advisory council and the board of directors to provide support for the success of the organization.
Can you tell us a little more about Second Helpings?
Second Helpings is a local nonprofit that focuses on fighting hunger in Central Indiana. They do that in three key ways: food rescue, hunger relief and culinary job training.
Food rescue is about saving food that would otherwise be thrown away, then preparing it and delivering it to local nonprofits for free. The food is still good. It could be overstock items or donated items. For example, if there’s a sale at a grocery store and they know they aren’t going to sell as much meat as they have, they’ll donate the product to Second Helpings. Second Helpings goes out and retrieves food items from food donors, grocery stores and food suppliers. They bring the food back and redistribute it to either food pantries or prepare it onsite. The food prep happens in a commercial kitchen where people cook meals that are then delivered to nonprofits all over Central Indiana.
Second Helpings’ culinary job training is offered free to unemployed and underemployed adults. It’s a seven-week program designed to teach people how to work in a commercial kitchen. Last year Second Helpings celebrated their 1,000th graduate. They’re now in their 26th year of running the program. There are graduates all over the restaurant scene in Indianapolis. I like to say that if you’ve eaten at a restaurant in Indy, there’s probably a Second Helpings graduate working there.
What keeps you going back to Second Helpings?
There’s a great community of individuals I volunteer with and a fantastic staff as well. I also think it really makes a difference in the lives of others. Even though I’m not there every day, I’m proud to be a small part of an organization that impacts thousands of lives in a meaningful way.
How does ASG support you?
One of our core values is service, so it’s clearly an important part of the company culture. One of the most important things is that ASG has made it a priority to support team members’ personal interests and passions. I’m glad I get to work for a company that supports me.
Learn how ASG team members’ passion for service reflects the company’s values.
