DAYTON, Ohio — The Freestore Foodbank has distributed a million pounds of food on average for the past six weeks — when Ohio’s Stay Home order was issued.
- The Freestore Foodbank held an emergency food box distribution outside of Paul Brown Stadium
- Up to 1,000 boxes of food were distributed from 10 a.m.- 1 p.m.
- To boost community funded donations on Giving Tuesday Now, the Freestore Foodbank received doubled donations up to $150,000, thanks to the Rettig Foundation Trust
On Tuesday, outside of Paul Brown Stadium in Cincinnati, with help from the National Guard, they expected to help 1,000 families during an emergency food box donation.
As boxes of food were loaded up, recipients showed their gratitude.
“I thank each and every last one of them for their service,” Cincinnati resident Jackie said. “Yes I do.”
And on Giving Tuesday Now, The Freestore Foodbank saw doubled donation efforts.
“Every day at Freestore Foodbank we consider it a giving day certainly,” Donor Relations Officer for the Freestore Foodbank Jean Reisinger Coggan said. "Our generous donors make it possible to, for us to be here and distribute food to the neighbors who need it most. But especially today, gifts are being doubled on Giving Tuesday. That’s thanks to the Rettig Foundation Trust. And they’ll match all gifts today up to $150,000.”
She said half the people in line at the Freestore Foodbank had never used the services before.
Jackie is one of them — and as a grandmother of 4 — food is going fast.
“I’m a food server so I’m off work,” Jackie said. “It’s different, that’s for sure. We’re going through a whole lot. Different things, teaching the kids at home, they’re home more and you gotta keep em busy. It’s been difficult.”
One dollar typically provides three meals for families in need, but Tuesday it stretched to six.
Freestore Foodbank President and CEO Kurt Reiber said the foodbank is grateful for all the support they are receiving through the pandemic, but the need isn’t going away.
“The challenge that we have right now is that we have so many families that continue to feel the need,” Reiber said. “While we had some folks receive the stimulus checks that they received, those dollars are being spent already. So we’re probably going to see an uptick in demand through the month of May as well as June.”
And as the demand continues to increase, donations become more and more important, because they allow for the foodbank to continue to meet the needs of the Cincinnati community.
“They’re not just giving food right now, they’re really giving hope,” Reisinger Coggan said.
To donate to the Freestore Foodbank, visit their website and click "donate."
For a list of emergency food distributions this week, click here.