NORTH CENTRAL, Ohio — For some, going to food banks is starting to feel normal, but not for Humphrey Allgood, who has to use his stimulus check to pay for several bills he has to pay.
"To have a 54-year-old man sitting here with his 10-year-old son it’s, it’s heartbreaking,” said Allgood.
His hours were cut significantly at his full-time job and his part time gig laid him off.
Now he’s supporting three kids and his fiancee with a third of his normal income.
"That’s what’s got us here today,” he said.
He’s in the process of filing for unemployment and hasn’t gotten his stimulus check yet, but when it arrives he says it still can’t go towards food.
"It’s probably going to be able to pay the water bill, or our cell phone bill,” said Allgood.
Julie Chase-Morefield, the President and CEO of the Second Harvest Food Bank of Central Ohio says even if people start getting stimulus money and unemployment checks, she doubts the number of folks using their resources will decrease.
"I feel like the stimulus money is going to go for people to pay off bills that they haven’t been able to pay,” said Chase-Morefield.
Chase-Morefield says they’ve had to increase the amount of food they’ve given out over the past month by 125%.
"We distributed almost 1.6 million pounds of food, that’s significantly more than we’ve ever distributed so trying to replenish that supply is challenging right now,” she said.
Governor Mike Dewine issued an executive order earlier this week for more food bank funding, meanwhile Chase-Morefield wants folks to look into all benefits to keep their families fed.
"We’re trying to encourage people that have been laid off to apply for SNAP benefits,” she said.
To see if you qualify for SNAP, click here.
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