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Food banks available around Mid-Ohio Valley area

MARIETTA — The bare necessities of nutritious food, warm shelter and necessary medication are often pitted against each other for families below the poverty line.

Low-income families many times have to choose between turning on the heat in winter and putting meals on the table.

“But it’s not just a holiday problem,” said Asti Payne, development coordinator of the Southeast Ohio Foodbank. “It’s a year-round issue for people who may have succumbed to illness, lost a job or fallen on hard times in other ways.”

The food bank is participating in the national effort to raise awareness about hunger in the United States with daily challenges throughout this month, dubbed, “Hunger Action Month.” One challenge was to organize a brown-bag lunch with coworkers and donate the funds that would have been spent going to lunch to the food bank, another was to make coffee at home one day and donate the money saved to the food bank.

The daily challenges are designed to raise awareness to the staggering statistics of how many Americans are food insecure, and they can be taken on any month of the year.

“One of our most popular and easy ones people participated in was making coffee at home one day and donating the saved money to the food bank,” said Payne. “That helped us get the word out that your dollar goes further here because of our purchasing power. With $1 we can purchase five meals for someone in need.”

And the need is great in southeastern Ohio, with hunger a larger issue than the national average.

“The national average is one in every six people are food insecure,” said Payne. “But in southeast Ohio, that number rises to one in every four people when you’re looking at children in our region.”

Food insecurity is defined by several characteristics: the worry of or actual depletion of food available before funds would be available for more, the inability to purchase balanced meals, skipping meals because of a lack of funds and weight loss and malnutrition due to a lack of funds.

“We take a lot of things for granted but I hope people see what difference they can make in small ways through donations of money or food or volunteering their time,” said Payne. “Not everyone who is food insecure qualifies for SNAP benefits, and it’s the community meals and food pantries that bridge the meal gap for them.”

Karen Kumpf, founder of Harvest of Hope in Marietta, suggested several ways local residents can get involved in filling the economic gap between food stamps and food security.

“If you have your own garden, take some of your extra produce to your local food pantry,” said Kumpf. “Or buy an extra loaf or two of bread, food pantries shouldn’t have to buy bread.”

Local volunteers at the Marietta Community Food Pantry focus on providing a judgment-free zone for locals to get food and toiletries each month.

“I’ve been coming every Monday for over 20 years to help out,” said Mary Jurin, 87, of Reno. “I’m retired and so this is something I wanted to do.”

Jurin spent Monday greeting local residents and putting together boxes of canned fruit and vegetables, cereal, pastas, meat, eggs and milk for families and individuals.

Cathy Strahler, 49, of Marietta, said she likes to volunteer her time when she’s not working as a nurse.

“I do what I can on my days off,” she said. “I just think it’s nice to help out the community, you never know what your neighbor may be going through. But with places like this they can get some help getting back on their feet.”

Laurie Nash, coordinator of the pantry, explained that the need of local pantries changes by the month, but often staples like instant potatoes, pastas, canned goods and shelf and dried milk need replenishment.

“And if people have things like freezers or anything else they feel we could use, we encourage them to give us a call,” said Nash.

According to Payne, milk is one of the most requested, but least donated items at food banks and pantries.

Now through Oct. 15, Kroger is inviting shoppers to “Feed a Childhood” by purchasing a $1, $3 or $5 milk voucher donations at checkout in stores in Belpre and Marietta.

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