Stepping out

I took my passion for hunger issues in a different direction recently.

For many years, I helped organize CROP hunger walks in Saginaw, Mich. – an annual 10-kilometer walk to raise funds to fight hunger. Three-quarters of funds raised were (and still are) sent to the national organization, Elkhart, Ind.-based Church World Service, which supports disaster relief and refugee programs nationally and around the world. The remaining one-quarter is returned to the local committee. Most years, we divided it among several local agencies, including a soup kitchen, a food rescue organization, a homeless shelter and a neighborhood outreach center.

Keeping an eye on government

In recent years, I have volunteered at a food pantry, putting together food boxes and giving them directly to needy people. When the food pantry director (and co-founder) retired a year ago, I took over the operation.

We have given away 50 percent more food boxes this year than last. This mirrors the trend statewide.

Church World Service and the Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio, the sponsoring organizations of the CROP walk and the food pantry, respectively, both have lobbying arms, since both also rely on government funding.

Church World Service does most of its lobbying in Washington, D.C. As a practicing journalist at the time, I kept up with what the organization was doing, but I didn’t get involved directly on the political side.

Second Harvest connects with state of Ohio legislators, since the food bank receives a fair chunk of change from them. Most of the food our pantry, and others Second Harvest supports, used to come from donations. Post-pandemic, only about 10 percent of it does, I was told by Second Harvest offficials.

Second Harvest buys the rest – and prices keep going up.CROP

Ohio legislators had to set a new two-year budget by the start of their fiscal year, which was July 1. As is typical with government, the state House and the state Senate passed different budget bills, then had to work through their differences to come up with the final version.

The House version, supported by Gov. Mike DeWine, was favorable to food banks statewide. The Senate version was not, however.

Getting involved

According to a press release from the Columbus-based Ohio Association of Foodbanks:

The budget passed today (June 15) by the Ohio Senate represents a cut in funding for emergency food programs over the next two years, and a drastic, permanent decline in revenue to support basic health and human services most Ohioans rely on.

The Association explained that it requested state funding of $50 million per year “to purchase and distribute Ohio-grown fruits and vegetables, protein and dairy items, and shelf-stable products …Instead, the Ohio Senate reduced funding from $39.55 million per year to $24.55 million per year.”

In other words, the Senate supported only half of what the Association sought – less than the current level of funding.

As a result, a Columbus-based agency called Advocates for Ohio’s Future organized a statewide rally on the Statehouse grounds on a Wednesday afternoon in late June. About a dozen speakers discussed health care, child care, K-12 education and senior citizen programs, in addition to “food insecurity,” which is the new catch-phrase.

Second Harvest chartered a bus to attend the rally.

I signed up, along with about 20 others.

A couple hundred of us from across Ohio attended the rally on a warm, sunny early afternoon. We held signs and repeated a few chants at the urging of the speakers.

The results

Did it matter? A little research revealed to me that groups host rallies like that all the time on a number of issues. I guess that’s how government works. He who speaks loudest wins.

Organizers also encouraged us to write letters and make phone calls to our representatives and senators. I did write an email to my senator, and his legislative aide wrote me a nice response a few days later.

It’s also about making contacts.

A week later, Second Harvest sent this email to its supporters:

All of our hard work across the network has paid off!  It was just announced that the conference committee has authorized $39.5M to food banks, removed the harmful provisions to the SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, formerly food stamps) proposed by the Senate, and included funding to offset the cost of reduced-price meals for at least 80,000 K-12 students who live in families with incomes between 130 to 185 percent of the federal poverty level!  We are sincerely grateful to everyone who mobilized their networks with calls and emails, posted and shared information on social media, and took time to travel to Columbus with Second Harvest to visit offices and attend the Rally for Ohio’s Future.  It made a difference, and THEY HEARD US! THANK YOU!

The Senate kept the funding same from the previous fiscal budget, then – not an increase, but not a decrease, either.

The state budget signed by Gov. DeWine on July 4 includes $32.05 million per year for the Ohio Food Program and Agricultural Clearance Program. Second Harvest will receive funds through these programs.

As food pantry director, I apply for and receive grants from Second Harvest twice a year to buy food. Each week, I place a food order. I never see the actual grant money; Second Harvest keeps it, then deducts the cost of what I order each week from the grant.

The state budget affects the pantry directly, then.

I wish the pantry wasn’t needed, just like I wished 30 years ago that CROP Walk fundraisers weren’t needed either. But it is, and they are. Even in our wealthy country, people have empty refrigerators.

Are there people who take advantage of us, accepting free food when they don’t really need it? Yes. But they are few. And we don’t judge them. We give a box to everyone who asks for it. If they are deceptive, that’s between them and their God.

The need, however, is great. And growing.

In my letter, I invited my state Senator to visit our pantry. If he is supposed to serve his constituents, and not the other way around, he needs to get out of his office in Columbus and meet us on our turf.

Perhaps at some point, he will. We will see. But I may have to do more relationship building first.

Because that’s the way life works, too.