Harvest for Hunger Annual Campaign in full swing

 

Harvest for Hunger Co-Chairs , Terrance C. Z. Egger, President & Publisher, The Plain Dealer, and Frederick R. Nance, Regional Managing Partner, Squire, Sanders & Dempsey L.L.P.; Honorary Co-Chairmen Mayor Frank G. Jackson, City of Cleveland, and Commissioner Peter Lawson Jones, Cuyahoga County Board of Commissioners, recently kicked off the annual food and funds drive at the Cleveland Foodbank. Anne Goodman, President & CEO, Cleveland Foodbank; Mike Holmgren, President, Cleveland Browns and Judith Z. Peters, West Side Ecumenical Ministries, a Foodbank member agency, also addressed the crowd, made up of Harvest for Hunger food and funds drive coordinators, volunteers and supporters. 

Harvest for Hunger is an annual campaign that takes place each March and provides food to hunger centers in 21 Northeast Ohio counties.   

Anne Goodman, President & CEO of the Cleveland Foodbank, shared the results of the new local hunger study, Hunger in America 2010, the largest, most-comprehensive study ever conducted on domestic hunger. The study reported that more than 223,700 people, including 76,000 children, receive emergency food each year through the Cleveland Foodbank and the 450 agencies they serve. The findings represent a 40% percent increase since the findings reported in Hunger in America 2006.

“The statistics in Hunger in America 2010 remind us that there is a serious and urgent problem in our country and in Northeast Ohio. It has only gotten worse in recent years,” said Anne Goodman. “Thankfully, kindness and compassion are hallmarks of the Greater Cleveland area. We are grateful for the hundreds of companies, schools, organizations and individuals who participate in Harvest for Hunger.” Last year, the drive raised a record $2.9 million as well as over 400,000 pounds of food.

This year is more important than ever. The need for food continues to increase in our area. The Foodbank’s distribution for the first four months of our fiscal year was up 24%, compared to the same time last year. 

At the event, local media personalities participated in a celebrity grocery packing contest with representatives from participating supermarkets as judges.  They packed a variety of products, including the “Super Six” items most needed by area hunger centers: peanut butter, tuna fish, beef stew, soup, cereal and canned vegetables.

Terry Egger and Fred Nance stressed the many ways Greater Clevelanders can support Harvest for Hunger this March: 

• Check Out Hunger: Give $1, $5 or $10 at the cash register at Giant Eagle, Heinen’s, Dave’s Markets, Acme Fresh Market, Fishers Foods, Buehler’s Fresh Foods or other participating retailers.
• Visit www.harvestforhunger.org to donate securely online.
• Organize a food and funds drive at your school or workplace. Call 216.738.2046 for more details.

• Purchase tickets to Market Under Glass on April 22. Go to www.cleveland.com/marketunderglass.

The Cleveland Foodbank uses dollars donated through Harvest for Hunger to make food available to local hunger centers for free. When you donate $1 to Harvest for Hunger, the Foodbank can provide enough food for four nutritious meals to local hunger centers to distribute to local families. For the 13th consecutive year, Alan Shawn Feinstein will divide $1 million among hunger-fighting agencies nationwide, using it to help them raise funds during March and April, 2010. The money is divided proportionately among agencies that collect donations toward this challenge. The more the Cleveland Foodbank raises in donations to Harvest for Hunger from March 1st through April 30th, the greater proportion of money we will receive from the Feinstein Foundation. 

The drive will run through April 10, 2010.  Harvest for Hunger supermarket sponsors include Giant Eagle, Heinen’s, Dave’s Markets, Acme Fresh Market, Buehler’s Fresh Foods, Fishers Foods and the UFCW Local 880. Media sponsors include cleveland.com, Cleveland Magazine, The Plain Dealer, Sun News, Time Warner Cable, WKYC TV 3, WJW Fox 8, WOIO Channel 19, KISS FM, WDOK, WGAR, WKRK, WMJI, WMMS, WMVX, WNCX, WQAL, and WTAM. For more information, visit www.harvestforhunger.org.