Ravenna – On my drive home from running errands, I was thinking about what I would have for dinner. Leftovers. Would I throw something in the microwave? Would I cook a gourmet meal fit for a Queen? (If my feet weren’t too tired.) This is what people do on a regular basis plan what they’re going to have for lunch or prepare a snack for their children to take to school. But what if you didn’t have food in the refrigerator or in the pantry? What if you didn’t even have anywhere to keep food because you were homeless? How do you eat then? There are people out there in need and the Covid pandemic has not done them any favors, but the Center of Hope has been there to fill the void.
The Center of Hope has recently been able to host pop-up food drive-thrus thanks to a grant from the Akron Canton Regional Foodbank. Their Website states, “Starting on February 1, 2021 the Foodbank will be granting support dollars directly to you in the form of a full waiver of product fees…for our hunger-relief partners until December 31, 2021. All products on our menu will be available for free to partners during this time, thus allowing you to invest your dollars in capacity, infrastructure and general support of your operations.”
Lajoyce Harris, Program Manager for the Center of Hope, explained in the past she could place anywhere from a $900 to $1500 weekly food order to the ACRF to restock what their Food Bank could offer those in need. Now the benefit of this grant is that money can be reallocated in other areas to cover the gaps of food disparity the pandemic has caused in our community.
Program Coordinator, Kierstin Prater, managed last Friday’s Food Drive-Thru and said, “It was a blur.” In two hours, she and volunteers passed out 1000 pounds of additional food that had been made available because of the grant. In addition to 75 food distribution boxes. Food items given out included bags of potatoes, onions, cereal, peanut butter, cans of tuna, sweet potatoes, and apples. “If we have it, we give it out,” she said, “because the need in the community has gone up tremendously since Covid. The outpouring of help has been amazing. It has almost been overwhelming. Even as we were passing food out, more donations were pouring in.”
Harris said the grant is creating future opportunities for the Center of Hope to hopefully start having once a month food drive-thrus. The grant will also assist with the Pantry which is something they offer for people to come in once a month to pick out what they need. Now they may be able to do appointments twice a month, as well as answering emergency requests for food. During the peak of Covid they were getting somewhere around 50 calls a week from people or families who were running out of the standard food items others might take for granted. “Now we are down to approximately 30 calls a week.”
No one is judged on their need. If they ask for two bags of potatoes, then we give it to them. For example, someone maybe homeless or does not have transportation and asks for extra or just wants pre-packaged food. Harris explained the Center tries to tailor the need for food to the individual. The drive-thrus do not register people taking the food, but the Pantry does, as it is based on income and is traditionally done by appointment.
“I like to say we march to the beat of the need,” Harris said about how they decide to dispense food within the community.
The Center of Hope is currently open Monday-Thursday 9am to 3pm and is located at 1081 W Main St, Ravenna, OH 44266. If you have questions or require assistance you can call 330-297-5454 or email coh@fcsohio.org. Please follow their Facebook page to see when the next Pop-up Drive-Thru will be announced. They are always in need of volunteers, so you have some free time think about lending your fellow man a hand!
