Food, funds campaign is vital for area

The annual Harvest for Hunger campaign is one of those initiatives that deserves a great deal of community support. Harvest for Hunger is an annual food and funds drive that takes place every spring.

Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, headquartered at 5510 Baumhart Road in Lorain, will kick off its annual campaign Feb. 13 to raise money that pays for nutritious food for those in need in Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford counties.

The agency serves food pantries and programs in those counties.

Second Harvest organizes the campaign in partnership with other food banks in Northern Ohio, reaching 21 counties.

Julie Chase-Morefield, Second Harvest president and chief executive officer, said Harvest for Hunger is the single largest campaign to raise money for the food bank.

Second Harvest’s fourcounty service area has 65,450, or 13.6 percent of the combined population, are considered “food insecure,” based on criteria of the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

There are 37,393 people in the service area living below 130 percent of the federal poverty level.

Second Harvest serves 79 food pantries, 47 hot meal programs and 19 “supplemental” programs for partners that serve food for many needs.

Chase-Morefield said there are 50,000 people served each month through the food pantries and about 35,000 people a month through the hot meal programs.

And many of the people are children.

These youngsters shouldn’t have to go to school hungry.

Imagine trying to concentrate on your studies on an empty stomach.

And adults shouldn’t have to worry about where their next meal will come from.

Second Harvest is trying to reach the less fortunate and provide them with food.

As the Christmas holiday become a distant past, the greater the need for food and funds, and Second Harvest realizes that.

The funds raised during Harvest for Hunger help to see Second Harvest programs through the lean summer months.

This year, Lorain County Commissioner Lori Kokoski is serving as the honorary chairperson, the first woman to lead the effort.

Kokoski wants to get the word out about Harvest for Hunger and to get as many people as possible to get involved to help make this a successful campaign.

Kokoski said it breaks her heart that there are people, especially children and the elderly, going without food.

There still are gaps, and “we need to fill those gaps,” she said.

Based on donations of food and money, Second Harvest can provide five meals for every $1 given.

And the donations stay local.

Last year, Harvest for Hunger raised enough money to provide 1 million meals.

It was the first time the agency reached that mark and the goal is to surpass that this year, which is the 27th year of Harvest for Hunger.

Those who can’t make it to the kick-off party can “Check Out Hunger” by donating at the checkout lines of Giant Eagle and Heinen’s Grocery Stores.

Cashiers will collect contributions from Feb. 18 to April 1.

Chase-Morefield and Kokoski credited the store workers for being on the front lines of donations.

Chase-Morefield said cashiers do a phenomenal job asking people if they would like to support the campaign.

To bring the hunger point home to some of the region’s younger people, Firelands FFA, an agricultural science program, conducted a student-led hunger simulation Feb. 6 at Firelands High School.

Shanna Finnegan, an advisor for FFA, said students tend to have the wrong idea when it comes to hunger.

The students were set up in the cafeteria and were given an amount of breakfast based on what their new identity could afford.

Finnegan said the first thing that comes to mind for the students is that people who are starving live in foreign countries, which is a misconception.

There are people, she said, who are dealing with food insecurity in nearby neighborhoods and communities.

Samantha Ives, 17, a senior at Firelands and the FFA vice president, said the exercise was about bringing more awareness to hunger.

Samantha said the hunger simulation exercise was designed to spark a conversation of how to best tackle food insecurity.

Second Harvest is addressing those needs.

And Harvest for Hunger is a campaign deserving of our supporting.