Staff photo / R. Michael Semple Teamwork was of the essence as vehicles moved quickly through the food distribution line Thursday at Packard Park. The giveaway was sponsored by Second Harvest Food Bank, Warren Family Mission and Warren City Health Department. Joe Cordell of Youngstown, a resident of the mission, center, catches a bag of frozen food.

YOUNGSTOWN — Twenty members of the Ohio National Guard are coming to Youngstown on Monday morning, but the fight they will help wage will be against hunger.

Mike Iberis, executive director of Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley, said 10 of the Guardsmen will help distribute food at Second Harvest’s Salt Springs Road headquarters, and 10 more will help disinfect the facility.

Iberis made the announcement Thursday at the Mahoning County commissioners meeting, saying “I don’t have to tell anyone in this room that we have an epidemic on our hands. We have a crisis. We at the food bank are responding.

“Last night, Gov. DeWine announced that he is deploying almost all National Guard troops to the state of Ohio. There are 20 coming to the Mahoning Valley.” Iberis said this should not be viewed as Ohio becoming “a military state by any reason. We all know the National Guard is usually called out in disasters, floods, tornadoes — to assist.”

Iberis said the 12 regional food bank directors in Ohio, including himself, asked the governor for assistance. “He was very agreeable to do it.”

Iberis said the Guardsmen will “assist with packing boxes, distributing food, picking up food and sanitizing the warehouse.” He said Second Harvest has been receiving “dozens of calls every day” from individuals and other organizations asking, “What can we do to help?”

Iberis said Second Harvest is accepting their help with “monetary donations we are going to need to keep the food supply coming and also other donations.”

He said “everybody knows someone who is struggling. We are supporting 150 pantries and soup kitchens and 48 school pantries.” Second Harvest is especially focused on two vulnerable populations — “children, now that they are out of school, they are going to be missing some meals. Also senior citizens, especially those who are homebound,” Iberis said.

DeWine announced Wednesday that National Guardsmen would be deployed in the state to help deal with the COVID-19 pandemic. Iberis said the Guardsmen will bring with them four vehicles and the cleaning supplies they will need.

Iberis said Second Harvest had a significant increase in orders for food from its partner food pantries in Columbiana, Mahoning and Trumbull counties in recent days.

People who want to get food should call 211 and provide their ZIP code, and they will be referred to a specific food bank, Iberis said.

“There are more and more people showing up at a pantry or food kitchen because they just got laid off — from restaurants, department stores, so they are showing up there. We’ve seen a 21 percent spike in food orders since yesterday,” Iberis told the newspaper in an interview.

He noted that the Huntington Foundation Group, which is part of Huntington Banks, donated $60,000 on Wednesday and Second Harvest is receiving “many, many calls from people wanting to donate.”

erunyan@tribtoday.com