LORAIN, Ohio — As Thanksgiving approaches, food banks are bracing for a high demand for holiday assistance.
This year, a 32% spike in demand for services at Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio set the expectation.
“Food insecurity tends to be a symptom of a much larger issue,” said Julie Chase-Morefield, the president and CEO of the organization.
She explained that many families have not fully rebounded from the financial challenges created by the pandemic. Additionally, some feel the pinch of high housing prices, the expiration of pandemic benefits and inflation.
During the winter months, many tight budgets are stretched even thinner.
“There’s winter coats and winter boots and all those little things that families have to buy. And food tends to be the easiest cost to give up,” Chase-Morefield said.
Thursday, cars began lining up hours before a mobile distribution at Black River Landing in Lorain.
“It’s going to get packed today because of the holiday, Thanksgiving, people are going to want to get their stuff,” said Robert Phillips.
He and Barbara Davitz pulled into the parking lot two hours before Second Harvest was scheduled to begin distributing bags of produce, canned goods and meat. They said their fixed incomes and monthly SNAP benefits aren’t enough to cover grocery prices.
“We don’t even get everything we need. We have to put stuff back. And I’m on SSI and he’s on disability so we’re struggling. We’re struggling a lot,” Davitz said.
Chase-Morefield said seniors make up many of the food bank’s clients, but in recent years, new families and individuals have been seeking services, many coming to pantries and distributions only several times a year.
She explained the food bank is prepared to meet the increased demand, but it’s also pushing for long-term solutions to address the root causes of food insecurity and the renewal of government programs, like the Farm Bill, to support food assistance.
“We’re advocating for those strong programs to be able to continue to meet the need because we don’t see it going down any time soon,” she said.
Families told News 5 they are grateful for the available resources.
“If there’s no help, everybody’s going to go hungry. It’s as simple as that,” Davitz said.
Second Harvest of North Central Ohio is holding Thanksgiving distributions in Lorain, Erie, Huron and Crawford Counties leading up to the holiday. Registration is closed, but you can join a waitlist by CLICKING HERE.
The Food Bank offers numerous mobile distributions and partners with around 130 pantries and other organizations. If you need food assistance in Lorain, Erie, Huron or Crawford Counties, click the “Find Food” button on the top right corner of THIS WEBSITE.
