love chapel international

What love chapel international does

Love Chapel International, legally the Ecumenical Assembly of Bartholomew County Churches, Inc., is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit charitable ministry founded in 1953 in Columbus, Indiana. It operates a coordinated suite of free community services for Bartholomew County residents, including a main food pantry at 292 Center Street distributing 7-10 days of food per monthly visit, the Brighter Days temporary homeless shelter with 50-guest capacity and case management, an Emergency Assistance Program for rent and utilities, four mobile outreach pantries serving rural areas, a daily hot meals program, the Love Chapel Care Packages school backpack program serving 800+ students weekly across 14 elementary schools, and an annual Christmas Feast Giveaway reaching 1,700 families. The organization reports serving approximately 1 in 10 Bartholomew County residents and distributing over 2.2 million pounds of food annually.

The business model is donation-funded: all services are provided free of charge without income verification, with revenue sourced from individual donors, 24 member churches and 35 supporting churches through the Ecumenical Assembly, business partners, and food sourcing through the Feeding America network and Gleaners Food Bank. Food sourcing is split roughly 73% donated (1.6 million lbs) and 27% purchased (~600,000 lbs) at Gleaners-discounted rates, with refrigerated trucks and 25 volunteer drivers supporting three pickups per week from Walmart, Sam's Club, Kroger, and Jay-C.

Technology is standard nonprofit stack: a WordPress website, PointApp volunteer management platform, and Givebutter donation processing. The organization is overseen by Executive Director Kelly Daugherty with a Board President (Cliff Putterill), Development Director (Allison Kunkler), Operations Director (Janice Kotnik), and a paid staff of approximately 1-10 augmented by a large volunteer base. A separately incorporated Love Chapel Foundation, established in 2007, functions as an endowment distributing 5% of invested fund balance annually as grants for new programs and equipment.

Name

love chapel international

Legal name

Love Chapel - Ecumenical Assembly of Bartholomew County Churches

Website

https://columbuslovechapel.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1953

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Love Chapel International is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit in Columbus, Indiana providing free food pantry, homeless shelter, financial assistance, and school nutrition services to roughly 1 in 10 Bartholomew County residents, operated by the Ecumenical Assembly of 24 member and 35 supporting churches since 1953.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Social Services

NAICS

Community Food and Housing, and Emergency and Other Relief Services (6242), Community Food Services (62421)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Faith-Based Social Services & Community Outreach (Food Pantries, Shelters, Counseling) (BPAGAJAG)

akta.pro secondary industry

Local Congregations & Worship Communities (Churches, Mosques, Temples, Synagogues) (BPAGAJAA)

Keywords

• Food pantry services
• Emergency shelter services
• Financial assistance programs
• Community food distribution
• Homeless housing services

Headquarters

HQ city

Columbus Junction

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices7 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Supply Chain, Operations, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Distribution channels6 records

Marketing channels6 records

Core offering

Love Chapel International (legally the Ecumenical Assembly of Bartholomew County Churches, Inc.) is a nonprofit faith-based ministry that provides food assistance, temporary shelter, and emergency financial aid to residents of Bartholomew County, Indiana. Core offerings include a monthly food pantry, the Brighter Days homeless shelter, emergency rent/utility assistance, mobile outreach pantries for rural areas, free daily hot meals, weekend nutrition for food-insecure students, and an annual Christmas Feast Giveaway.

Product overview

Love Chapel, legally known as the Ecumenical Assembly of Bartholomew County Churches, Inc., is a community services ministry offering a coordinated suite of assistance programs. The core offerings include a Food Pantry providing monthly grocery distributions, Brighter Days Homeless Shelter offering temporary overnight accommodation, and an Emergency Assistance Program delivering financial support for rent and utilities. These are supplemented by Mobile Outreach Pantries extending food access to rural areas, a Hot Meals Program providing daily free dinners, Love Chapel Care Packages delivering weekend nutrition to food-insecure students, and an annual Christmas Feast Giveaway. The Love Chapel Foundation provides long-term financial stability through endowment grants for new programs and equipment.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Food Pantry Food distribution service providing Bartholomew County families with approximately 7-10 days of food monthly, including frozen and canned meats, fresh produce, dairy, bread, and staple items. Located at 292 Center Street, open Monday-Saturday 9:00am-11:45am; serves any resident in need without income verification.
• Brighter Days Homeless Shelter Temporary emergency shelter providing overnight accommodation for up to 50 residents, with case management services to help clients obtain permanent housing. Located at 421 S. Mapleton Street, open 6 PM to 9 PM nightly; includes a Winter Contingency program November 21 - March 21 for extended stays.
• Emergency Assistance Program Financial support program helping Bartholomew County residents avoid eviction and utility disconnection by providing assistance with rent, utilities, deposits, and bills, paid directly to landlords and utilities. Operates in coordination with township trustees to maximize impact.
• Mobile Outreach Pantries Four monthly mobile food pantries serving rural areas of Bartholomew County, bringing food directly to underserved communities to save clients time and transportation costs. Locations include Elizabethtown (1st Tuesday), Taylorsville (2nd Wednesday), Bethel Baptist Church Columbus (3rd Tuesday), and Hope Square (4th Tuesday).
• Hot Meals Program Free hot meals served nightly at multiple locations throughout Columbus and Bartholomew County including churches and community centers, providing evening meals to community members in need seven days per week.
• Love Chapel Care Packages Weekend nutrition program providing food packages to over 800 food-insecure students weekly across 14 elementary schools during the school year. Items like peanut butter, crackers, fruit cups, and protein items are discreetly placed in student backpacks, with school counselors identifying students in need.
• Christmas Feast Giveaway Annual holiday food distribution program providing complete feast baskets to approximately 1,700 families each December, including ham, eggs, produce, canned goods, and holiday staples. Each basket costs approximately $80.
• Love Chapel Foundation Separate supporting foundation providing long-term financial stability for Love Chapel by accumulating funds and distributing 5% of its annual invested fund balance as grants for program development, new equipment, and emergency disaster funding.

Quantifiable outcome

• Serves 1 in 10 Bartholomew County residents with food, shelter, or financial assistance
• +4 more outcomes

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Ecumenical Assembly of Bartholomew County ChurchescoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 January 1967Formal partnership of 24 member churches and 35 supporting churches that comprises the organizational structure of Love Chapel. Member churches have seats on the board and help make programmatic decisions. Churches provide volunteers, donations, hot meal hosting, and mobile pantry venues.
• Gleaners Food BankcoreOthersRegional food bank that supplies commodities and surplus food to Love Chapel. Love Chapel purchases much of its supplemental food through Gleaners at discounted rates. Also receives USDA commodities through this partnership. Partnership enables Love Chapel to stretch food purchasing dollars significantly while providing quality food to clients.
• Feeding AmericacoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerNational network of food banks formed through USDA and Grocer's Association partnership. Major grocers including Walmart, Sam's Club, Kroger, and Jay-C donate near-sell-by-date products to member food banks. Love Chapel participates in this network to receive donated food, with all transfer occurring on paper while Love Chapel picks up directly from stores.
• WalmartcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor food donor through Feeding America network. Love Chapel uses refrigerated truck to make pickups on Monday, Wednesday, and Friday, with significant volume coming from Walmart locations.
• Sam's ClubcoreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMajor food donor through Feeding America network. Love Chapel uses refrigerated truck to make regular pickups from Sam's Club locations.
• First Financial BankminorOthersSupporting business partner listed on Love Chapel website. Provides financial support and potentially volunteer recruitment to support Love Chapel's mission.
• Kenny GlassminorOthersSupporting business partner listed on Love Chapel website. Provides financial support and/or in-kind contributions to Love Chapel.
• Lohmeyer PlumbingminorOthersSupporting business partner listed on Love Chapel website. Provides financial support and/or in-kind contributions to Love Chapel.
• Columbus Township TrusteecoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerOwns the building housing Brighter Days homeless shelter. Provides foundational support for shelter operations. Clients must visit township trustees before receiving Love Chapel financial assistance to maximize available resources.
• First Presbyterian ChurchcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProvides gymnasium for Thanksgiving and Christmas parties for homeless individuals. Partner host site for hot meal programs.

Scale indicators18 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Brightpoint: Indiana community action agency delivering food assistance, housing counseling, and emergency services to low-income households. Comparable social safety-net service mix at a regional scale.
• Second Helpings: Indianapolis-based food rescue and redistribution nonprofit that prepares and distributes food to agencies serving the hungry. Closely analogous to Love Chapel's food pantry and hot meals programs targeting food-insecure residents.
• Wheeler Mission: Indiana faith-based nonprofit that runs emergency homeless shelters with case-management-to-permanent-housing programming, directly comparable to Love Chapel's Brighter Days shelter in mission and operating model.
• Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana: Regional food bank that supplies Love Chapel with discounted and USDA commodities and is part of the Feeding America network. Operates an overlapping food sourcing and distribution model targeting food-insecure households in Indiana.
• United Way of Bartholomew County: Local community funding and coordination organization working alongside Love Chapel to address homelessness and basic needs in the same geography; Love Chapel is among the funded/partnered agencies.
• Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC): National network of faith-based affiliates that coordinate local churches to deliver food, shelter, and financial assistance to neighbors in need — structurally and operationally comparable to Love Chapel's Ecumenical Assembly model.
• Midwest Food Bank: Faith-based regional food bank operating a similar volunteer-driven, donor-funded model of food distribution through partner agencies and direct community outreach across the Midwest.

Broad incumbents

• Catholic Charities Indianapolis: Faith-based regional nonprofit providing emergency assistance, food, housing, and case management across central Indiana. Comparable mission and service breadth, though operating at a larger regional scale than Love Chapel's county focus.
• The Salvation Army Indianapolis Area Command: National faith-based social services organization with broader programs (food, shelter, utility/rent assistance) in Indiana. Comparable delivery areas, including emergency financial assistance and food distribution, though much larger and not county-specific.

Others

• Habitat for Humanity of Greater Indianapolis: Faith-affiliated regional nonprofit providing housing stability solutions and financial counseling, addressing related downstream drivers of the eviction and shelter demand that Love Chapel serves.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks1 record

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/love-chapel

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

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M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about love chapel international