A 2010 community assessment identified 1 in 6 Hancock County residents as food insecure.
From that single statistic, the Halt Hunger Initiative was born.
We pledged $1 million toward local programs working to eradicate hunger over the next five years and poured our energy into rallying local leaders and stakeholders into the fight against hunger. We were joined by city and county governments, schools, health organizations, faith leaders and a host of fellow nonprofits.
Since then, over $2 million has been awarded to programs countywide to support the goals of the Halt Hunger Initiative. As grocery prices have risen sharply, we’ve pledged even more annual funding to programs that fit the goals that were outlined when the initiative took shape:
- Support local food programs and providers in their effort to provide nutritious food to individuals and families in need of food assistance.
- Assure all those in need have access to food assistance programs.
- Develop and implement long-term plans for food acquisition, storage capacity and distribution capacity.
- Educate and equip individuals and families to be food secure.
Current Partners in Fighting Hunger
Christian Clearing House
Christian Clearing House provides food vouchers up to four times per year to individuals and families in need through their Caring Cupboard program. The value of the voucher is based on household size, and clients may shop at Great Scot in Findlay for their grocery items. Families also receive information about other food resources available in the community, along with a list of healthful grocery items. The agency reports that less than 7% of all client purchases represent unhealthy choices.
Food vouchers distributed in 2023 totaled $117,000.
Salvation Army
The Salvation Army's food pantry is open every weekday and distributes a three- to five-day emergency supply of food to those in need, depending on the size of the household. Additionally, the agency serves a full-service in-house meal every day during the last full week of each month, with grab-and-go meals provided to those who prefer not to eat in the café. A partnership with the West Ohio Food Bank and HATS (Hancock Area Transportation Services) delivers food boxes to homebound seniors.
Over 3,600 individuals were served through the Salvation Army's emergency food pantry, hot meal service and senior food boxes in 2023.
West Ohio Food Bank
The West Ohio Food Bank supplies food and grocery-type products for local distribution across an 11-county region. The agency also provides deeply discounted food items to organizations sponsoring mobile food pantries and to school pantry programs. Additional collaborations seek to educate clients on food selection and preparation, and to heighten awareness of the connection between food and overall health.
In 2023, the West Ohio Food Bank distributed 1,072,631 pounds of food to Hancock County residents, representing 893,859 total meals.
YMCA Feed-A-Child
The YMCA's Feed-A-Child program provides students throughout Hancock County with easy-to-prepare food items on the weekends and other critical times such as summer break. Bags consisting of two breakfasts, two lunches, three dinners and two snacks are dropped off at city and county schools early Friday mornings and discreetly placed in students' cubbies or backpacks before they go home for the weekend. The Feed-A-Child program also provides snack boxes to schools to distribute to students who are hungry throughout the day.
During the 2022-23 academic year, Feed-A-Child distributed weekend backpack meals to 550 students each week (19,800 bags in total).