Hundreds seek food handouts in Indiana city

Hundreds of cars lined up in economically distressed Elkhart on Tuesday to receive food and other items from 13 semitrailers sent by a charity.

The trucks carried more than $2.1 million worth of food, enough to help sustain about 5,200 families for a week. Elkhart, with an unemployment rate of 18.3 percent, was recently visited by President Barack Obama trying to muster public support for economic stimulus legislation.

The line wrapped around a shopping mall parking lot and onto surrounding roads. Layoffs in the recreational vehicle industry have driven much of the job loss in northern Indiana. The city was the second of several cities on Feed the …