On A Breadline
By Mark J. Lucas |
|
"It's amazing how many people are being fed because of this crazy little thing we started. We're feeding millions and it is not costing anyone anything."
- John van Hengel, "Father of Foodbanking"
Columbus is the 15th largest city in the Union, and possesses one of the top 10 economies to boot. It is an odd juxtaposition that in the midst of such affluence, there are those who still go hungry - and those numbers are growing.
Soup kitchens and food pantries have always played an integral part in relieving the pangs of hunger in our city, but due to the recent economic downturn, they are seeing increased foot traffic as more and more locals find themselves in the breadline.
"The need is growing tremendously, due to what has happened to our economy," said Evelyn Behm, Senior Vice President for Food & Strategic Initiatives at the Mid-Ohio Foodbank. "These are really hard times for many families. Many pantries find new people at their doors that have never come before."
The Mid-Ohio Foodbank is an organization that distributes food to pantries and soup kitchens around the central Ohio area. Only 11 percent of the food they procure is purchased. The rest comes from local sources, such as grocery stores and farms. Often, the food is surplus because it is overstock, or because it won't make it to the shelves due to shipping errors. In these hard times, the more errors, the better, as the demand from Columbus families has sharply increased.
"We've seen a 39 percent increase in requests for food in the last two years," Behm said. "Even a few of our volunteers have been calling, asking how they can access a pantry. They're starting to need assistance, too. We've never seen that before."
The Gladden Community House, a food pantry located in Franklinton, is one of the busiest in town, and lately, it has seen increases as well. What's more, the pantry is receiving requests for assistance from those who are employed, and in some cases, double income families in the area, which is a new demographic.
Unfortunately, despite the increased need, Gladden is going to see a decrease in city funding.
Funding was "cut [back] 44 percent from the city," says Mardi Ciriaco, Vice President of Community Services at Gladden Community House. "That's huge."
The plight of hunger is not localized only to low-income areas of our city. Food pantries exist in every suburb, and even they are seeing more foot traffic. In Dublin, despite the relative wealth of the area, the Dublin Food Pantry has no shortage of people who find themselves in need of assistance because of cutbacks in working hours.
"Every month we have new clients," says Linda Fisher, Operations Manager for the Dublin Food Pantry. "A lot of people believe that since Dublin is an affluent neighborhood, that they wouldn't expect to see their friends and neighbors here, but that is not the case."
As more and more people find themselves wanting, The Mid-Ohio Foodbank, and the 130 food pantries and soup kitchens which it supplies, will be there to dull the sharp edge of hunger. Breadlines are growing in length, and the faces in the lines are changing. The single mother with three kids and two jobs is becoming the double income family, and until the economic tides in our country shift to more profitable shores, these institutions will continue to do their part to make sure there's enough food on the table at the end of the day.
Originally Published: July 1, 2009
