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One Faith, One Hope, One Love

Financial Reports

Food for All

Loaves and fishesHundreds of people in more sparsely populated areas of our archdiocese encounter great difficulties in getting to where the food is.

Thanks to your generosity toward One Faith, One Hope, One Love, the food is now coming to them. 

Food for AllUsing funds from the archdiocese-wide capital campaign, Catholic Charities Southwestern Ohio established the Food for All Pantry, a mobile service bringing nutritious meals to clients in five eastern counties. “One of our goals is to feed more people,” said Scott D. Stephens, Catholic Charities director of parish outreach.

The program has steadily expanded since it began in February. By next month, Food for All Pantry will visit Adams, Brown, Clermont, Clinton, and Highland counties. Some drop-off sites are a drive of more than an hour-and-a-half from Cincinnati.

Food for AllPlans began after Catholic Charities staff met with pastors in the eastern counties to discuss needs there. “The pastors told us their problems were poverty, a lot of hunger, food deserts, and that some people can’t even get to the pantries,” Mr. Stephens said. “That’s how this came about.”

“For example, in Brown County, a huge county [about 490 square miles], we met with about 10 pastors and asked when to go and where,” Mr. Stephens said. “We needed to draw from Ripley, Aberdeen, Higginsport, little towns along the river. At conventional pantries there can be a long travel time for people.”

Food for AlllCatholic Charities worked with local community service providers and volunteers to assess needs and choose locations. In February, the first mobile pantry stopped at Greater Life Assembly of God Church in Hillsboro, Highland County, providing food for clients representing 119 households, a total of 332 people served. About 30 volunteers assisted.

Nearly a quarter of the 28,000 people in rural Adams County live in poverty.  Brown County, with a population of about 43,800, has a rate of some 15%. Clermont (202,000) is at 11%, Clinton (42,000) at 14%, and Highland (43,000) at 19%.

Food for AllCatholic Charities buys the food from Freestore Foodbank in Cincinnati, which also supplies the delivery truck at no charge. Selection of foods depends on Freestore’s inventory at the time, but includes fresh meat and produce as well as canned goods.

The idea is to provide large numbers of people with meals enough for at least three days, which many overburdened local pantries can’t always do. “At some of the pantries people get a bag and canned food,” Mr. Stephens said. “One of our goals was to give a good amount of food ad make it healthy food.

“A question has been how much food to bring,” he said. “We may have 100 people registered, but 200 show up. So it’s kind of been a guessing game. The good news is that we’ve never run out of food.”

“At the last drop we gave 42 items,” Mr. Stephens added. “The food lasts several days.”

Food for AllGroceries are distributed inside the drop-off site, usually a church. Clients “can wait in the church, inside if the weather’s bad, and we give them a number that’s called, so they don’t have to stand in line,” Mr. Stephens said. When there are leftovers, the surplus is given to local pantries.

Supplemental initiatives by volunteers and other agencies have helped make the service “grow organically,” Mr. Stephens said. One church, for example, partnered with the meal effort to hand out items such as detergent and hand soap. One man provided a pork roast for clients at a distribution site. “This gentleman bought a pig and, grilled it all night,” Mr. Stephens said. Volunteers made Cole slaw and other side dishes, “so the people who came got a hot meal too.”

“We get young families, the middle-aged, the retired. One gentleman, a World War II vet, came on his 90th birthday. He’s on a walker, and his son brought him there. We got him a cake and sang ‘Happy Birthday.’

Food for All“It’s great to see the growth. It’s not just us. The community has joined, and people don’t just get food, they get the love and support of volunteers. One woman was crying. She said she was overwhelmed, first by the amount of food, but also by how everybody treated her. She said ‘They’re happy, smiling. You people are different.’ It’s a great group.”

And, of course, the prayers have been many, Mr. Stephens said.

“One of the pastors said he prays for all of us, people who have given to the campaign.”

 


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