On Friday, the Akron-Canton Area Food Bank and its partners had reason to celebrate.
Despite fears it would fall short of its goal of providing 4.2 million meals, the organization reached the target on the final day of its annual Harvest for Hunger campaign.
The food bank feared its target was in jeopardy and alerted its funding and food procurement partners. Over the course of three days, they rallied together to meet the goal.
The campaign began on March 1st.
A matching challenge supported by Goodyear Tire & Rubber Company and an anonymous source helped the food bank reach its goal on May 29 and 30. All donations made on those two days were matched by the food bank, providing double the help to hungry families.
“With inflation affecting so many people, we knew going into this campaign that it would be tough and that we would have to go further than ever before,” Dan Flowers, the food bank’s president and CEO, said in a press release Friday.
The Akron-Canton Area Food Bank is distributing a lot of food.
Flowers said the organization continues to face “unprecedented demand for food.”
The organization works with more than 600 food pantries, meal sites and other hunger relief programs in its mission to feed people and fight hunger.
For the first time since its inception, the organization distributed more than 3 million pounds of food from its warehouse for four consecutive months.
In the first three months of 2024, the number of meals served increased by 28% compared to the same period in 2023.
The food bank operates in Carroll, Holmes, Medina, Portage, Stark, Summit, Tuscarawas and Wayne counties, but the numbers in Summit County alone show the magnitude of the food need.
In 2023, the Food Bank provided more than 10 million meals and 12 million pounds of food, including 2.5 million pounds of produce, to support 265 food and meal programs across the county.
Volunteer at the Akron-Canton Area Food Bank
In 2023, 10,389 volunteers served 64,424 hours at the food bank.
A dedicated team of 144 volunteers contributed 22,816 hours, about 35% of the total recorded time.
Hunger Relief Campaign
The food bank celebrated the success of its biggest annual campaign yet on Friday.
The food bank says the effort supports food distribution throughout the year and includes efforts by about 100 businesses, schools and faith-based organizations.
“When we realized we were short of campaign funds, we petitioned the community,” Flowers said in a news release, “and I’m not surprised, but incredibly honored, that they responded to our petition with overwhelming support.”
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