Charitable organizations are seeking volunteers this holiday season to help combat hunger in the Toledo area, where one in six residents goes hungry.
“With the winter season approaching, the approximate 250 member agencies that are part of the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank’s network are preparing to meet the increasing needs of the hungry in our community,” James Caldwell, president and chief operating officer of the Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank, said in a prepared statement.
“This can be an arduous task as every year the need for food assistance grows,” he went on to say. “There are thousands of children, families and senior citizens right here in our community, who will not have a holiday meal. With the joy of the holidays also comes the harshness of the winter months. Rising heating and transportation costs will affect us all this coming winter; however, it will be especially burdensome for the almost 2 million Ohioans who live below the poverty line.”
Said Nikki Morey, Cherry Street Mission Ministries' communications director: “The reason we are able to do as much as we do with as little income as we get is through volunteers. When you are donating your time, you are impacting the community directly.”
Some of the agencies helping to combat hunger include:
- The Toledo Northwestern Ohio Food Bank (24 East Woodruff Ave., 419-242-5000, toledofoodbank.org), which serves eight counties, acting as a clearinghouse to distribute food to 250 pantries and other area agencies. For every dollar received, it can make five meals.
- The SeaGate Food Bank of Northwest Ohio (526 High St., 419-244-6996, seagatefoodbank.org), which also serves as a food-distribution facility. With a staff of 10 people, it provides 14 million pounds of food to 423 pantries and programs in our community each year, feeding 120,000 people every month, with $50 enough to feed a family for a week. All donations stay in the Toledo area, because the food bank is unaffiliated with national organizations.
- Cherry Street Mission Ministries, which serves three meals a day to the community at its Mac Street Café (1501 Monroe St., 419-214-3007, cherrystreetmission.org).
- The Martin Luther King Kitchen for the Poor (650 Vance St., 419-241-2596, kitchenforthepoor.org) has served some of Toledo's neediest families for 50 years. The Kitchen serves 200 meals each weekday in addition to preparing special holiday meals and hosting an annual Christmas party with gifts for children.
- Perrysburg Christians United Food Pantry at Grace United Methodist Church (601 E. Boundary St., Perrysburg, in the back southeast corner of the parking lot, 419-874-4365, saintroseonline.org). The pantry serves those who live in Wood County north of State Rt. 582. Its hours are 1 to 3 p.m. Mondays and 9 to 11 a.m. Fridays.
- Meals on Wheels Program (2200 Jefferson Ave., 419-255-7806, mobilemeals.org), which serves home-delivered meals to at least 2,800 clients annually. About 800 volunteers annually deliver 326,000 meals to home-bound elderly, ailing, or physically disabled.
- Helping Hands of St. Louis (443 Sixth St., 419-691-0613, catholiccharitiesnwo.org) stocks a food pantry, and offers breakfasts (Monday, Wednesday, Friday) and lunches on weekdays.
- Food for Thought (316 Adams St., 419-972-0022, feedtoledo.org), which brings its mobile pantries to nine locations, providing shelf-stable foods and fresh produce to area neighborhoods. Also, on Friday nights volunteers prepare peanut butter and jelly sandwiches to pack in lunch bags that are distributed downtown on Saturday mornings.
- Claver House (the lower level of St. Martin de Porres Church, 1119 W. Bancroft St., 419-283-8142), which serves an all-you-can-eat breakfast to about 60 people from 6:30 to 10 a.m. every Monday through Friday, with about 12,000 meals served in 2018. Soup prepared by volunteers and casseroles donated by congregants of local churches also are offered.
- Mobile Food Bank. Held the seconnd Saturday of every month at the Islamic Center Social Hall at 25877 Scheider Road, Perrysburg, 419-874-3509, icgt.org. Gather at 11 a.m. to prepare and package 300 hot meals to distribute to neighborhoods in Perrysburg and Toledo.
- Jewish Family Service (6505 Sylvania Ave., Sylvania, 419-724-0405, jewishtoledo.org), which maintains a food pantry with consideration to special dietary needs. Its Farm to Food Pantry program, with Shared Legacy Farms, provides fresh seasonal produce.
First Published November 30, 2019, 6:00 p.m.
