Media Coverage

Jan 27, 2023

Over 163,000 Franklin County food stamp recipients will lose $10M in COVID benefits in March

For Jasmine Wooten, the COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated an already grim situation.

The 33-year-old social worker and mother of two, who lives on the Near East Side, was already getting food benefits when the pandemic hit. Nearly three years later, it's become even more difficult to put food on the table, due in part to inflation, misperceptions about those who get benefits and lack of empathy from people in power, she said.

"It's absolutely worse because the price increases in groceries have shot up astronomically," Wooten said. "What used to just get us by … even with supplementation, is not enough."

Wooten's financial situation will take yet another hit in a few weeks when she and more than 163,000 other Franklin County residents lose a collective $10 million in food benefits in March, when a needed supplemental boost in food benefits due to the COVID-19 pandemic comes to an end.

Oct 6, 2022

'This is just the beginning' What the White House's hunger conference means for Ohio

The White House Conference on Hunger and Nutrition was Thursday. It brought several anti hunger advocates, farmers, nutritionists, community leaders and policymakers to discuss solutions for hunger and healthy eating in the United States. Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, the executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, was at the conference. She spoke with WYSO’s Alejandro Figueroa about the national plan to end hunger and what it means for Ohioans.

Oct 3, 2022

DeWine administration to send $15M in stimulus funds to Ohio food banks

Republican Gov. Mike DeWine’s administration is using federal stimulus money to grant $15 million worth of Ohio-produced meat, eggs and dairy products to Ohio food banks.

Aug 24, 2022

Ohio food banks starving for funds to replace rapidly dwindling supplies

“Food banks have been lightening the bag, lightening the boxes, rationing food," Hamler-Fugitt said. "We're currently providing families, Ohioans, that turn to us with two fewer days of meals because we're trying to stretch what we have on hand. But the situation is very severe.”

With the legislature on a break until after the November election, the food banks turned to Gov. Mike DeWine in June, asking him for $50 million in federal COVID-19 relief funds.

Aug 24, 2022

“We’re desperately worried about food.” For Ohio foodbanks, a bad situation gets worse.

Ohio foodbanks have taken some pretty dramatic steps to deal with the crisis. For example, many are rationing food, typically by cutting a five-to-seven day allotment of food by two days.

Meanwhile, they continue to appeal to Gov. Mike DeWine for $50 million in emergency funding as the state sits on unprecedented balances of $7.4 billion.

Aug 23, 2022

“We’re desperately worried about food.” For Ohio foodbanks, a bad situation gets worse.

Ohioans have seen some respite from high fuel costs in recent months. But those who provide food to millions of poor people in the state say their situation is only deteriorating.

Global supply-chain problems, labor shortages, the coronavirus pandemic, climate change and other megatrends are all combining to make them worry for the first time that they just won’t have enough food for everybody who needs it, Lisa Hamler-Fugitt, executive director of the Ohio Association of Foodbanks, said on Monday.

“We’re down about a sixth and it’s declining,” she said, referring to food supplies, particularly from the U.S. Department of Agriculture. At the same time, she said, demand is spiking because of high prices at the grocery store, increasing costs for housing and utilities and health care.

That means food at Ohio’s foodbanks is “going out a hell of a lot faster than it’s coming in,” she said.