OHIO — With the coronavirus putting many people out of work and unemployment funding still up in the air for most, more and more families are having to rely on local food banks.
And in Cincinnati, the Freestore Foodbank is seeing its supplies fall to critically low levels.
- Increased demand from residents of Greater Cincinnati has caused the shortage in supply
- Governor Mike DeWine has ordered $5 million in emergency funding to Ohio’s 12 Feeding America foodbanks
- Bengals defensive end Sam Hubbard has raised $56,000 to be donated to the Freestore Foodbank
The Freestore Foodbank has distributed over 3.5 million pounds of food to the people of greater Cincinnati since March 23 — dwindling down their supply to just about three weeks worth of food at its distribution center.
Vice President of External Affairs for the Freestore Foodbank Trisha Rayner said their operation which serves Ohio, Northern Kentucky and Southeast Indiana has seen a great influx of families needing food donations — 50 percent of which have never been to the pantry before.
“What we have seen are families coming in saying I just need some help right now,” she said. “I’m making choices between my rent payment and my grocery bill.”
The increased demand, coupled with the restriction on direct food donations, has led to the depleting supply. So now, more than ever, monetary donations to the foodbank are extremely important.
“We’ve seen a lot of people again graciously jump online and give,” Rayner said. “And that’s been a huge help to us to be able to purchase that food.”
But relief is on the way. On Monday, Governor Mike DeWine announced an additional $5 million in emergency funding to directly support Ohio’s 12 Feeding America food banks.
Additional funding will be coming by way of one Cincinnati Bengals player who has made and met a call to action. Sam Hubbard has pledged to match $9,400 through a GoFundMe account, which has since been doubled and matched by TriHeath, Bengals defensive end Carlos Dunlap and the Cincinnati Bengals organization —bringing the total contribution well over $50,000.
“It’s gonna be about $56,000, and take that times three, that’s a lot of meals just from a week or so of fundraising,” Rayner said. “Again, very appreciative, they raise the visibility of hunger in our community and that’s even more important because that encourages more people to give.”
Hubbard, who’s a Cincinnati native and played at Ohio State, is following an example set forth by his family and also by Dunlap, praising the foodbank.
"Being in Cincinnati for such a long time, my grandparents have donated to them forever,” Hubbard said to bengals.com. “They just do really good work and they have the infrastructure to get meals out, so what better place to partner with to raise money?”
For the foodbank, one dollar provides three meals for families in need. And Rayner said Hubbard’s contribution will go a long way toward helping folks because we simply don’t know when this crisis will be over.
“We anticipate that we’re going to see a longer haul than just the next couple of weeks,” Rayner said. “So we are making plans into the summer as to how this response may continue.”
But at least for now it seems support is on the way to help the Foodbank in its mission to fight food insecurity in greater Cincinnati.
Rayner said continued funding efforts will be needed for the long-term while dealing with increased demand caused by COVID-19.
If you would like to donate to the Freestore Foodbank, visit their website and click on "donate." 94 percent of all donations goes directly into programs and services.
