|
Alpha Phi Boulé
Supports Toledo Food Banks
Special to The Truth
One in seven individuals
in northwest Ohio suffers from food insecurity. In Lucas
County nearly one in five people suffers from food
insecurity or 85,000 individuals. Ohio’s overall rate of
food insecurity is higher than the national average. It is
estimated that over two million Ohioans will go hungry each
year.
ProMedica’s CEO Randy
Oostra has appropriately called hunger a health issue as it
impacts a patient’s ability to both fight and recover from
disease. But it is also an educational issue as data
clearly demonstrates that hungry children have lower math
scores and are more likely to repeat a grade, come to school
late, or miss school entirely.
Furthermore, hungry
children experience developmental impairments in areas like
language, motor skills, and behavior. Hunger is also a
crime issue. For every one percent increase in food
insecurity within a community there is an approximately 12
percent increase in the rate of violent crime. And it would
be impossible not to acknowledge that hunger is a social
justice issue.
No child’s birth status
should condemn them to hunger. So when the Archons of Alpha
Phi Boulé decided to once again invest in the local
organizations of Toledo that maintain this great community
through both thick and thin, they decided to support local
food banks.
Sire Archon (President)
Dr. Mallory Williams stated, “We will get through the COVID
19 worldwide pandemic as a united community caring for one
another and leaving no one behind. As horrible as living
during this pandemic has been, it has forced us to see the
things that matter the most, our health. And so we are very
honored to join forces with the Toledo Northwestern Ohio
Food Bank and Connecting Kids to Meals, two outstanding
pillars of our community.”
Alpha Phi Boulé donated
$1,000 to each of these food banks and began discussions on
long-term future support including volunteering with meal
preparation and distribution. Archon Paul Hubbard said,
“particularly in this season and at this time these
contributions are needed.”
Hubbard and Dr. Williams
visited James C. Caldwell, president and CEO of Toledo
Northwestern Ohio Food Bank at their 25,000 square feet food
distribution center on Woodruff Avenue. The food bank is
currently feeding 50,000 individuals per month. Over 220
agencies across eight counties depend upon the food bank.
The food bank has fed over 500,000 people during the
pandemic distributing over 10 million pounds of food.
Overall demand for the food bank’s services are up over 50%
during the pandemic.
The next visit the
gentlemen made was to the Connecting Kids to Meals Program
within the Cherry Street Mission on Monroe St. to meet with
President Wendi Huntley, Esq. They presented her with a
check for $1,000 and toured the facility.
Sire Archon Mallory
Williams reflected, “to learn that one in four children in
Lucas County has food insecurity and 40 percent live in
poverty is astonishing. This was present before the
pandemic and has only become worse.”
Huntley shared the fact
that the overall cost of food distribution has increased
during the COVID 19 pandemic. Keeping children safe remains
a priority as we feed them. Individually wrapped meals are
now a requirement. Also continuing to provide individually
wrapped warm meals with outside distribution sites can be
challenging.
|
