Over the past several months, the Ohio Association of Foodbanks and our 12 regional foodbanks have encountered many challenges as we worked to keep Ohio families nourished. From July to September 2022, our Ohio food pantries served 38% more households compared to the same quarter in 2021. We’ve also seen sustained increases in food and fuel costs, as well as the expiration of pandemic relief measures, making it a challenge to help those in need across our state.
However, late in 2022 we were fortunate enough to receive assistance from Ohio Gov. Mike DeWine and members of the 134th General Assembly including Ohio Senate President Matt Huffman, former Ohio House Speaker Bob Cupp, Ohio Senate Finance Chairman Matt Dolan and Ohio House Pro Tempore and former Ohio House Finance Chairman Scott Oelslager. We want to express our deepest appreciation to these leaders as they listened to our pleas for help and directed an additional $25 million in funds to feed food-insecure Ohioans and support agriculture.
We also want to thank Ohio’s Departments of Agriculture, Education and Job and Family Services for their continued partnership in reducing hunger and bolstering the local food systems. We look forward to continuing our work with these departments, the administration and the new General Assembly.
While there is still work to be done, these funds will help us meet the immediate need for healthy, wholesome food for our community.
Lisa Hamler-Fugitt
Columbus
Hamler-Fugitt is executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks.
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