Second Harvest kicks off Harvest for Hunger campaign

LORAIN — For thousands of residents in Lorain, Crawford, Erie and Huron counties, food insecurity is a real concern.

Standing on stage, Nordson Corp. President/ CEO Sundaram Nagarajan noted one in six children face hunger, and Ohio ranks 10th in the country for food insecurity.

But Second Harvest Food Bank of North Central Ohio’s Harvest for Hunger campaign hopes to fill in those gaps.

The effort, which hopes to raise food and funds for at least 3 million meals, kicked off March 2 at the Nordson Distribution Facility at Second Harvest Food Bank.

Outside of the 3 million meal effort, Nordson Corp. presented Second Harvest Food Bank President/CEO Julie Chase-Morefield with a check for $500,000.

“The company is really proud to get this whole campaign kicked off with a lead gift of $500,000,” said Nagarajan, this year’s honorary campaign chair. “I think we’re proud to inspire others to join and help make (the campaign) an even greater success because we do believe the need is going to be tremendous. We as a community need to come together and make this happen.”

Those funds will help fill what Chase-Morefield predicts will be a roughly 30 percent spike in need now that pandemic-fueled expansions to Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Pro- gram benefits have ended.

In March 2020, the federal government expanded SNAP benefits to the maximum allotment for individuals and families, but those allocations returned to normal Wednesday.

“This campaign is critical to helping us be able to meet that need going forward,” Chase-Morefield said. Nordson Corp. has a 40year history of addressing food insecurity in Northeast Ohio, founding the Lorain County Community Cupboard in the 1980s, which gave way to Second Harvest Food Bank.

Beyond the company’s financial commitment is its employees’ volunteerism year after year, Nagarajan noted. In a video for the campaign kickoff, Nordson retired Executive Vice President Doug Bloomfield and his son, Ryan, both talked about their time working for Nordson and volunteering at Second Harvest.

It’s a tradition that started when Ryan Bloomfield was a child and has continued on as he’s followed in his father’s footsteps at the manufacturing company.

For Chris-Ann Hakeman with Christ’s Community Meals at First Presbyterian Church in Huron, the need her group serves is great, but its volunteers’ passion is greater.

She said 13 years ago, God began nudging her to cook, and the next day she was on the phone with Sec-

Oberlin Schools’ Eastwood Elementary could be housing

OBERLIN — Eastwood Elementary School could see a second life as a housing project.

Liberty Development Vice President Dru Siley came before the Oberlin School Board on Feb. 28 to discuss the possibility of the development company turning the former school into a housing project.

Superintendent David Hall said Westlake-based Liberty Development has experience in disposing of schools, comes with outstanding references and has goals aligned with the city and community to bring housing to the area.

ond Harvest to partner with the food bank.

Christ’s Community Meals serves lunches every Monday and dinners the second and fourth Wednesdays. Last year, the band of 15-30 volunteers served 11,461 people, and — like Second Harvest — expects to serve more as inflation continues to rise and SNAP benefits decrease.

“I understand this year is going to be hard, but with Second Harvest, we can do anything,” Hakeman said, pledging to stop hunger in her community, one person at a time.

The Harvest for Hunger campaign runs through the end of May. For more information or to donate, visit secondharvestfoodbank.org.

Siley said Liberty Development is a build-develophold developer, meaning it would work to either rehab the site or build new on the land, and would retain the property in the long term.

He said the company would like to begin the process by talking to the community and discussing options for the site, including what is allowed by its current R-1 zoning.

He compared it to an ongoing project his company has in Berea near Baldwin-Wallace University. Berea’s former St. Mary School on Front Street is slated to become 30 apartments.

After meeting with the community and city leaders, its former gymnasium will become a community gathering space.

He said the input from the district, and the city, is going to be important if the project moves forward.

The board has not voted to transfer the property.

Eastwood Elementary has been vacant since 2021. It, and Prospect Elementary, were replaced by the $17.8 million Oberlin Elementary School, which opened that fall.

The building was originally slated for a trade with Oberlin College, to house offices, classrooms and storage space, but the project died when City Council rejected its rezoning in June 2022.

Lorain County service agencies are bracing for impact as the expanded federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits come to an end.

In the midst of the COVID-19 pandemic, the federal government expanded the benefits, providing a lifeline for families. On March 1 the expanded benefits ended, with local service providers aiming to fill the gaps.

As of December, Lorain County had 35,918 people receiving SNAP, according to Julie Chase-Morefield, president and CEO of Second Harvest Food Bank of Northeast Ohio.

Second Harvest has been operating at 30 percent above pre-pandemic levels in requests for service, and the impact of ending the SNAP expansion will heighten the need with the lingering effects of inflation, she said.

“Seniors, families and disabled individuals in Lorain County have relied on the SNAP Emergency Allotments to provide stability in tough economic times. While we knew the benefits would eventually end, the current timing will hit even harder due to historic inflation which has led to sharp increases in the cost of groceries, fuel, goods, services and living expenses,” Chase-Morefield wrote in an email.

The additional SNAP benefits for seniors increased the monthly allotment from $23 to a maximum of $281.

Chase-Morefield said Second Harvest is expect- ing an additional 20 percent to 30 percent increase in need with the loss of household purchasing power resulting in a loss of $6 million to $6.5 million in Northeast Ohio alone.

“As an organization, we are purchasing additional food and procuring donated food along with packing extra food pantry boxes to be prepared for the increase. We’re extending hours at some mobile pantries and have added an additional mobile pantry at LCCC on March 21. The reality is that for every one meal food banks provide, SNAP provides nine meals,” Chase-Morefield said.

Oberlin Community Services said people who rely on its food pantry already have started turning out in higher numbers after being warned that SNAP cuts were coming.

On March 3, the nonprofit gave food to 116 households, some small and some large. Cars were backed up along South Professor Street for hours waiting to get prepackaged food boxes, said Food Programs Coordinator Liv Hanson.

Inside, more than 70 households “shopped” for necessities at OCS’ choice pantry, by far its busiest day since reopening from the COVID-19 pandemic shutdown.

“People knew the SNAP cuts were coming and tried to prepare. They’re scared,” Hanson said.

“We’re seeing a serious jump in numbers, and I think it’s only going to keep going up from here.”

Just like grocery store shoppers, food pantries have to roll with shortages and sky-high prices, she said.

That means OCS and counterparts across Ohio will be looking for ways to stretch their supply of food.

Statewide, all 738,000 households that rely on SNAP will have benefits reduced due to the fed- eral rollback of emergency funding. On average, those households will get $172 per month less.

A working parent with two children will go from $740 per month to $180. A single senior will go from $258 per month to $23.

“That’s a significant drop for someone with already limited income,” Hanson said. “And those seniors? What are they going to be able to buy with just $23 at today’s supermarket prices?”

Neighborhood Alliance, an Elyria-based nonprofit offering support in food assistance and housing among other programs, expects to see need increase.

“Neighborhood Alliance will continue to provide support for those in Lorain County who find themselves in need. The Neighborhood Nutrition Kitchen by Neighborhood Alliance will be opening in the next few weeks. We will be prepared for a possible influx of requests for home-delivered meals as a result of this reduction in benefit support,” said Jadera Patton, director of creative marketing for Neighborhood Alliance.

The Neighborhood Nutrition Kitchen is set to open in Elyria at the former YMCA building on Washington Avenue. The project will enable the agency to streamline its process in consolidat- ing the five kitchens across Lorain County into one larger facility in support of the home-delivered meals program. hartblacktop@yahoo.com

Second Harvest is asking the state of Ohio to approve a request from the Ohio Association of Food Banks of $100 million over the 2024-2025 biennium to help food banks direct the maximum amount of funding to Ohioans who need it most.