CLEVELAND — Dan Flowers is the president and CEO of the Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank. Over the years, he has seen the need for services fluctuate, but said 2020 was the highest demand he has witnessed so far.
What You Need To Know
- The Akron-Canton Regional Foodbank is in need of volunteers heading into the holidays
- The foodbank says need is down compared to this time last year
- Last year the foodbank provided 37 million pounds of food
"We distributed 37 million pounds of food last year — an all-time record for our foodbank," said Flowers.
Flowers said demand is down this year and on course to match levels from 2019, but the need is declining the need for volunteers is increasing. Flowers said the foodbank is struggling to get corporate groups and volunteers since the National Guard left in July.
"We need people here to help us sort out food drive donations and a lot of other products we get from the grocery store so that we can then distribute it to people in need," said Flowers.
Flowers said he can't guess exactly how many families they'll serve for the holidays this year, but said the poverty level in the region shows the need for service is still there.
"Twenty-five percent of the people that lived in Summit County lived at or below the poverty level," said Flowers. "This year we expect to serve over 200,000 people and distribute well over 30 million pounds of food."
Flowers said if people want to support the foodbank, they can either donate or participate in upcoming fundraisers. For more information, you can click here.