Food insecurity
Local food banks see record demand during the coronavirus pandemic
Nearly a third of local households receiving food from pantries right now are getting assistance for the first time
By Paige Bennett and Tramaine Burton
News Lab
In households throughout Ohio, many people do not know where their next meal will come from.
More than one million Ohioans are without stable sources of food and employment because of the coronavirus pandemic. Ohio’s food insecurity rate increased from 13.9 percent to 23 percent since the outbreak began, according to the U.S. Census Household Pulse Survey. The survey was designed to collect data on the experiences of households across the U.S. during the pandemic.
In Portage County, thousands of people who did not need food assistance prior to the coronavirus outbreak have turned to food banks, pantries and hot meal sites for help. As the number of people in need of food continues to climb, these agencies struggle to meet the demand.
Other factors of the pandemic, including social distancing guidelines and fewer volunteers,have also made it difficult for food banks and pantries to serve their communities.
“The demand for food currently from the food bank is at an all-time high,” said Raven Gayheart, public relations and communications manager at the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank (ACRF).
The agency, which was founded in 1982 to provide food to people in need, distributes food to 500 pantries, hot meal sites and other hunger relief programs within its eight-county service area. The counties it serves include:
- Portage
- Carroll
- Holmes
- Medina
- Stark
- Summit
- Wayne
- Tuscarawas
She said the food bank saw a significant increase in need in March and April. At that time, its inventory was at a 10-year low, she said.
“We started to scramble to kind of figure out … if the demand remains at this pace, how are we going to maintain an inventory to continue to feed people in our community and provide food to our network of hunger relief partners?” Gayheart said.
Since the coronavirus pandemic began, she said the food bank experienced a 21 percent increase in the amount of food that leaves its facility.
She also said 30 percent of households receiving food from pantries within its network are getting assistance for the first time.
The Salvation Army food pantry in Ravenna is also seeing an increase in the number of new families receiving food.
“We are seeing more people who need food than ever before,” said Jeffrey Hardy, the Salvation Army Captain in Ravenna. “In the past two months, 62 percent of food distribution has gone to new families.”
Hardy said he distributed food to roughly 1,000 families since the pandemic began. Normally, there are income guidelines the organization follows, but Hardy said he won’t turn anyone away in need of food because the pandemic affects everyone, leaving many unemployed and struggling to provide for their families.
“We all have to eat,” he said. “If you lost your job, you still need food.”
The Salvation Army Red Shield Food Pantry set up its monthly drive-thru food distribution on a recent Wednesday morning in a Kent State University parking lot across from the Christian Life Center Church on East Summit Street.
Most of the clients who came to receive aid stayed in their vehicles as volunteers from the Salvation Army and some National Guard members took food orders, sorted items and loaded what was available into the cars.
Denise Paolucci, of Ravenna, injured her left leg during an assault last year. As she recovers, she is receiving aid from the food pantry.
“They’ve helped me a lot,” she said. “They’ve been very kind to me.”
In January, before the pandemic began, the Ohio Department of Jobs and Family Services (ODJFS) reported a 5.4 percent unemployment rate for Portage County. When the pandemic began, many companies statewide were forced to lay off employees, and in April, the ODJFS reported a 14.7 percent unemployment rate for the county — a 9.7 percent increase. The county has a population of 162,466, according to the United States Census Bureau, which means more than 23,800 people aren’t working.
In June, the ODJFS began issuing payments of about $300 to families with children who have qualified for free or reduced-price meals at school since March, to help make up for the meals they missed because of the school closures this spring. Ohio also enabled people who receive SNAP benefits to use them to purchase food online.
The Salvation Army food pantry saw a decline in families who regularly visited the pantry as the state increased funding for poorer families. However, they are still seeing a growing demand for food as a result of newly unemployed families seeking assistance in Portage County. The pantry serves all residents of the county.
Hardy said the pantry receives food from the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank, and they also receive large donations from many individuals and organizations, including Gordon Foods, which supplies the pantry with meat products.
As the needs of food banks continue to grow during the pandemic, many of them also face the challenge of having fewer volunteers.
“The majority of our network is run by volunteers, and the folks who are typically volunteering are people who are retired and they are in that high-risk age bracket,” Gayheart said. “And so unfortunately some programs simply just don’t have the manpower to safely run their program.”
In the coming months, Gayheart said she expects many Ohioans to continue to struggle with food insecurity because of the coronavirus pandemic.
“We’re expecting the aftermath of the coronavirus to negatively impact families for months to come,” Gayheart said. “So many folks have drained their savings, have taken out small loans just to make ends meet. And so we imagine that it’s going to take quite a few months for families to be able to rebound from this crisis.”
She said the ACRF gets most of its donations from manufacturers, farmers, wholesalers and grocery stores. The community stepped up and provided donations, as well, she said.
Anyone interested in donating to the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank can make a financial contribution on its website, www.akroncantonfoodbank.org. People struggling with food insecurity can also find information about food banks and hot meal sites near them on the food bank’s website.
The Salvation Army food pantry in Ravenna is also always accepting donations. Those donations can be dropped off at the Ravenna Salvation Army. For larger donations, arrangements can be made for collection with Jeffrey and Marion Hardy.
Jeffrey Hardy said they are in need of volunteers to help package and box food items for families.
Carter Eugene Adams contributed reporting. This article was produced through a reporting partnership with the Collaborative News Lab @ Kent State University.
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