INDIANAPOLIS -- Indianapolis Department of Public Works trucks were out on the road on Friday not to plow snow, but to deliver thousands of donations to Gleaners Food Bank.

The 35,000 cans, bags and boxes were donated by city-county employees and workers from some downtown businesses, 6News' Julie Pursley reported.

The convoy lined up in front of the City-County Building Friday morning and then drove the donations to Gleaners' east-side location.

"I've never seen anything like this and I've been doing this now for 29 years," said Pam Altmeyer, Gleaners' president and CEO.

The donation push came after a challenge from Mayor Greg Ballard, who asked people and businesses to hold their own food drives to contribute to the donation convoy.

"I knew we'd have a good response, but to see all of this organized so well and see a tremendous output like this, it just tells you the quality of the people we have working for the city and county," he said. "I'm very appreciative of that."

Officials with Gleaners said Friday's donations will likely carry the food bank through next Tuesday. The next challenge will be collecting food for the charities and families it will serve in January.

More Information: Gleaners Food Bank