Ohio's Largest Charitable Response to Hunger
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Dateline NBC "America Now: Friends and Neighbors" reports on the southeastern region of Ohio, highlighting the recession's impact on America's poorest. Watch the full episode: America Now: Friends and Neighbors To make a contribution to Friends and Neighbors Community Food Center, please visit the website: |
Ohio Foodbanks began in 1985 to develop the federally funded Temporary Emergency Food Assistance Program (TEFAP) within the state of Ohio. Working in conjunction with the Department of Education and then the Ohio Department of Agriculture and finally with the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services the Ohio Foodbanks struggled through many years of programmatic development, burdensome federal bureaucratic processes, repeated threats of cuts to the TEFAP food sources, and the constant recognition that even in the best of times, the food was generally in insufficient amounts to meet the growing needs of the hungry Ohioans.
In response to the then gowning need for food, The Ohio Association of Second Harvest Foodbanks in 1998 created the Ohio Food Program (OFP). Funded through a grant from the Ohio General Assembly, OFP provides shelf-stable and protein items to the regional foodbanks. Then in 1999, the Ohio Agricultural Clearance Program (OACP) was established. This program purchases surplus and unmarketable fresh fruit and vegetables for Ohio's farming community. It is one of the most nutritional food sources available to the regional foodbanks and their member charities. Additionally, it helps Ohio's farming community move product that would otherwise be plowed under.
OASHF recognizes that many people served by our network are struggling with high prescription drug costs. The 2007 Annual “No Names, Please” survey, a snapshot of the needs of people standing in the food lines, found that 14% of those surveyed reported high prescription costs were the reason they had to rely on a food pantry. These respondents reported spending an average of $170 every month on prescriptions.
As Ohio falls deeper in to recession, food and fuel costs rise, factories close, and job growth stalls the demand on the emergency food assistance network grows. Through the Ohio Benefit Bank, Ohioans are able to apply for benefits they so desperately need in order to survive. These include Food Stamps, Medicaid, HEAP, Free and Reduced Prices Meals Lunch Program, Golden Buckeye Card, and WIC.
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