FEEDING MEDINA COUNTY REACHES WHS STUDENTS

BY LIZZY EDWARDS & GRACE BARRETT

Feeding Medina County is a nonprofit organization dedicated to ending hunger and food insecurity across Medina county.

Katy Fuerst, the executive director of Feeding Medina County, has a large role in various areas of organization within the program.

“I spend a lot of time working to raise money for the organization—I write a lot of grants and meet with donors, and foundations to update them about what Feeding Medina County is doing in the community,” Fuerst said.

There are many ways in which Feeding Medina Country distributes meals to families in need.

For example, FMC holds community-wide food distributions; in which they provide groceries to families and individuals in need. These occur monthly at numerous different locations, including one at Art Wright Stadium in Wadsworth. Beyond these distributions, FMC has programs for senior citizens, a walk-in pantry, and free transportation of food.

The benefits of Feeding Medina County are brought to students at Wadsworth High School through a program called “Weekender Bags.” Any students who receive free or reduced lunches from the school are eligible to receive them.

“We provide breakfast and lunches to them here during the school week, but then, the weekend is a long time…the idea is that [the bags] offer breakfast, lunch, and dinner over the weekend as well,” said Mrs. Beth Beal, a prevention specialist at WHS.

As the name suggests, Weekender Bags are available to students at the end of each week. They are placed next to the Grab-and-Go station in the guidance office. Then, students receiving bags are sent a Remind message letting them know they are ready. The whole process is organized so that students are sure to get the correct bag.

“Everyone is assigned a number, and they can just come through and pick up their bag,” Beal said. Beal serves as the link between

WHS students and Feeding Medina County. She helps to make sure that students without secure sources of food are able to get the help they need.

“I really connect mostly with parents and families,” Beal said. “[Food insecurity] is one of those subjects that’s important to talk about because we want anybody that needs food or wants to be part of this program to sign up.”

In addition to the high school, weekender bags from Feeding Medina County are sent to the elementary schools, CIS, and the middle school. This allows students to have access to a bag for as long as they need, regardless of their age or what school they are at.

“Some of our students here have gotten a “weekenders” bag every weekend since they were young, so it’s kind of routine, and they just naturally come into the program from the middle school to us,” Beal said.

Beyond Wadsworth, FMC provides 983 Weekender Bags to students of all ages across Medina County.

In order to maintain the program, Feeding Medina Country highly depends upon the assistance of volunteers.

“We have over 400 active volunteers,” Fuerst said. “They are the reason that we can serve so many people each month.”

Fuerst’s main goal for the future of Feeding Medina county is to reach everyone who is in need of groceries. She aims at doing this through strategic partnerships with other organizations in the community. However, the program doesn’t come without its setbacks.

“One of the biggest challenges that we face is helping to reduce the stigma around receiving help from a food pantry. You never know what kind of situation someone is in or why they need help,” Fuerst said. “I want everyone to know that we are here to help, not judge.”

Despite the challenges they have encountered, FMC has succeeded in helping families around the county. Through the Weekender Bag program specifically, FMC and Wadsworth City Schools have created a safe environment for students to receive the help they need.

“A lot of our families, without this for their children, wouldn’t make it through a weekend,” Beal said.

The partnership between Feeding Medina County and Wadsworth City Schools has been mutually beneficial, allowing them to reach beyond their previous limits.

“I am so happy to say that we have increased our impact and the number of people that we serve by over 500% since before the COVID-19 pandemic. We are more accessible to more people, and this is because of great partners like Wadsworth City Schools,” Fuerst said.