Food for Friends Drive Kicks Off Nov 14
Between the food drives, the holiday charities and the bell ringers guarding red cans outside the local grocery store, it's hard not to see charity at work in Dayton around the holidays. But well over 100,000 people in this area are suffering from hunger year-round. For them, the kindness of strangers provides a security unmatched.
Food for Friends Drive Kicks Off Nov 14
But, notes Rosemary Dannin, community relations manager at The Foodbank, well over 100,000 people in this area are suffering from hunger year-round. For them, the kindness of strangers provides a security unmatched.
It's for those people that The Foodbank has been operating in the city for almost 25 years, and as Dannin notes, even the little contributions can go a long way.
Dayton Local: What services does The Foodbank offer?
Rosemary Dannin: "We have been in our 24,000-square foot warehouse since 1988, unduplicated we served about 70,000, but we serve well over 5 million meals a year. Last year we distributed about 5.7 million pounds of food."
"We have a network of emergency food providers, 85 non-profit agencies within Montgomery, Greene and Prebble counties. We acquire the food and we distribute to them, so they can operate food pan tries, soup kitchens, emergency shelters, we have food café programs which are after-school, and a good-to-go backpack program for kids over the weekend."
DL: How did the group get started?
RD: "The food bank started in the summer of 1976 as the Emergency Resource Bank under the umbrella of the Red Cross. In 2004 we became a separate 501(c) nonprofit. We are a member of Feeding America, we are one of 12 Feeding America food banks in the state of Ohio and one of 202 in the nation. It started because there was a growing need for hunger relief in the Dayton area."
DL: What has the need been in Dayton?
RD: "The demand has gone up consistently 35 percent every year. Some of our agencies are reporting twice as many people that are coming this year than last year…demand leveled off for awhile there but it spiked in 2007."
"It's quite a challenge but the good news is we do live in a generous community. We keep putting out the word on this great need that we have and people respond. It's very encouraging the way they respond, here."
"We have 132,000 food-insecure individuals in our three-county region, remember those folks t through the holidays.
DL: How can people help?
RD: "There are several ways you can help, one way is to donate at our website, www.thefoodbankdayton.org and make a donation. For every dollar we receive we can provide eight meals to our agencies. Your dollar goes a long way. If people want to donate food, we accept non-perishables, canned goods and shelf-to-table foods, they can drop those off at our location on 427 Washington Street."
"During the holidays there's a major food drive kicking off November 14 and going until Christmas Eve, the TV2 Food for Friends drive. There will be barrels in all of the area Kroger stores. That food comes to the food bank.
We have volunteers who inspect and sort the food and then rebox it for our agencies. If someone wants to volunteer, they can go to our website, click on "how to help" and fill out our volunteer interest form. We're always looking for volunteers."
