It is one thing to be told there is anecdotal evidence the need for support of food banks is only growing. It is quite another to learn there is hard proof. According to a report by the Ohio Capital Journal, Ohio food banks are seeing record-breaking amounts of need.
In part because of changes to the state’s Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, advocates say growing needs are not being met.
In the Southeast Ohio Foodbank region, for example, approximately 1 in 6 people are affected by food insecurity.
“Rising food prices, the end of SNAP Emergency Allotments, wage stagnation, and underemployment have contributed to the increased need for emergency food services in the region. Individuals facing food insecurity often have to make difficult choices between food and other basic necessities like utilities, transportation, medicine, housing, and education,” the organization says.
While it may have taken a few days for many of us to work through our Thanksgiving leftovers, other families are wondering how they will afford their next meal, let alone the edible luxuries too many of us take for granted.
In Trumbull County, the Warren Family Mission served 2,253 meals for the Thanksgiving holiday meal; 1,539 of them were deliveries.
In Mahoning County, 600 to 700 people were expected to come through the doors on Thursday for a free holiday meal at the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley.
As agencies like this, along with foodbank officials like Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, continue to work on behalf of vulnerable families, all the rest of us can do is give what we can — financially and in the form of food and other necessities.
For those becoming numb to the incessant pleas for support of nonprofits this season, consider that such an onslaught of requests is a worrying sign of the depth of the struggles faced by too many in our midst. If you can do something about it, don’t hesitate.