COVID-19 Updates from the Front Lines

Your foodbankers throughout Ohio are working on the front lines to feed more people in need than ever before during these public health and economic crises.

The Impact of COVID-19 on Hunger in Ohio

The COVID-19 pandemic is ongoing and evolving with new variants and challenges, continuing to impact all our lives in many ways. With more Ohioans living with uncertain access to adequate, healthy food than ever before, and with an ongoing public health crisis creating added challenges in how foodbanks respond, we are working hard every day to keep food on the shelves of Ohio's food pantries and on the tables of Ohio's families.

If you or someone you know is struggling to access enough food, view resources to get help today, including from your local foodbank.

How Foodbanks Are Responding

We've have been committed since the very earliest days of the pandemic to protecting the health and safety of staff, volunteers, and clients and we continue this commitment today. We have reimagined nearly everything we do, from holding mass drive-through food distributions, to minimize person-to-person contact to implementing home delivered meal programs to reach individuals isolated by quarantine periods or high risk of serious illness from the virus, to pre-packing groceries and distributing to-go meals. While some sites are slowly returning to a choice pantry for limited client “shopping” appointments, many must continue the drive-through model and some have had to make the very difficult decision to close their doors.

The Ohio National Guard and Ohio Military Reserve deployed more than 400 members to help our foodbanks continue to feed families in need and this critical mission wrapped up in July 2021. With many of our elderly volunteers sheltering in place, some local food pantries and soup kitchens closing their doors, and more need than ever in our communities, we are so grateful for the support that Guard members provided to help us keep safely sorting, packing, and distributing food to thousands of Ohioans in need. We now look to our foodbank volunteer network to help us continue this work. We hope to see many of our neighbors return to volunteering and look forward to many new faces joining us!

How You Can Help

Individual Donations: We strongly encourage individuals to make cash donations, rather than donations of food or other items, to maximize the value of each dollar through bulk purchasing, to minimize the burden on local retailers and grocers, and to minimize the need for person-to-person contact as our warehouses accept deliveries. To make a cash donation, please visit our donation page or donate directly to your local foodbank by navigating to their website.

Corporate Support: If your company is able to offer needed supplies, including shelf-stable food, personal care/personal hygiene/household cleaning items, food service supplies such as "to-go" meal containers, disposable silverware, sturdy bags, or other packaging items like cardboard boxes, please contact Jessica Renwick by email at jrenwick@ohiofoodbanks.org with information about your offer, including the quantity you have available.

Volunteer Resources: If you are an individual or group of individuals who are at low-risk for serious illness from a COVID-19 infection, and you are able to assist in volunteering in safe, clean settings in foodbank warehouses, please reach out to your local foodbank's volunteer department. We ask that only individuals free of symptoms, without known exposure to the COVID-19 virus, and without known underlying conditions that would put them at higher risk, respond to this call for volunteer support.

Public Funding: We are urging Governor DeWine and the Ohio General Assembly to make a one-time investment of $183 million from the remaining American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) state flexible funds to help maintain and build a resilient basic needs infrastructure across the state of Ohio. Learn more about how this investment would be used and why it is needed.