Traveling food pantry provides for 700 families
Second Harvest sees 40 percent increase in use of its services
CANFIELD — As his daughter Journey napped in the back of the family van, Doug Sherl talked with his son Jaxon as they awaited their turn for food Tuesday.
“They got up a little earlier than usual for us to get here,” the patriarch said as Journey rubbed the sleep out of her eyes. “We probably got here at about quarter to 8.”
For the first time since the start of the coronavirus pandemic, Sherl said the family needed to use the traveling pantry program offered by the Second Harvest Food Bank of the Mahoning Valley.
“With the end of the $600 (unemployment) … My wife is disabled and I am on reduced hours,” Sherl said, adding he works for the U.S. Census Bureau, which has been impacted by COVID-19.
The Sherls were one of 700 families that lined up, weaving through the Canfield Fairgrounds to have their vehicle trunks filled with fresh produce and milk.
“We’ve seen about a 40 percent increase since the pandemic began,” Mike Iberis, Second Harvest executive director, said. Currently, about 20,000 requests are received by the food bank system, he said.
“The vast majority of the increase are people that have never been to a food distribution before,” Iberis said.
The reason people are turning to assistance programs such as the traveling pantry is partly due to loss of employment and unemployment benefits, Iberis said.
“There’s a lot of anxiety, a lot of fear” as people try to find ways to sustain themselves, he said.
Twenty-two Ohio National Guard volunteers were on hand, and, without their assistance, the food programs during the pandemic would not be possible, Iberis noted.
Also lending a helping hand was state Sen. Michael Rulli, R-Salem, who presented the food bank a proclamation.
The pandemic has stretched longer than most people initially anticipated, Rulli said.
“This is still really hurting people at least financially,” he said.
“Right before Memorial Day there was a false sense of security that everything was back to normal,” Rulli said.
But as a result of the public feeling comfortable again, COVID-19 cases rose.
Rulli said things will likely still be different when society gets back to normal — but with precautions.
“I think it’s changed the culture forever,” he said.